Etwass Zartlich
by Sora Ryuuzaki
Summary: When Allen Walker transfers into the orchestra where Yuu Kanda happens to be first chair and sucks, what is our dignified concert master to do? Teach the newbie how to play, of course. Oneshot, Yullen, shounen-ai. T for safety.
1. First draft! Go to final draft!

Author's Note: Etwass Zartlich (pronounced "et-vass tsart-lighh" xD Have fun trying to pronounce it) is German. Etwass means "somewhat" and zartlich means "sweetly, delicately, or tenderly". So in essence, the title means "somewhat sweetly".

_If you are returning to this page, check chapter 2. No, it is not an epilogue. It is the edit. Yes. This is a draft. Go check out the next page for the edit. If you are a first-timer... Unless you have hours to spend squinting at hte computer screen to read both drafts, I'd move on, too. This thing right here - points to draft - is a whoppin' 20 pages on Word. Skip to the next one unless you want to sit through this._

**Disclaimer: I haven't been doing this lately... T_T How rude of me. The only parts of this story I own are the plot and the OC Aki-- the totally awesome Kanda sibling ;D Fantasie-Impromptu belongs to Frederic Chopin, D. Gray-man belongs to Hoshino-sensei, and the Yullen beliefs are everyone's.**

Etwass Zartlich

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There were many things that Yuu Kanda, the Japanese-American first chair, hated. Allen Walker being one of them.

Of course, they'd been in the same orchestra in their local high school for a only a few weeks, but surely that was a long enough time to judge one's character…? Well, for Kanda, at least, it was more than enough.

The long-haired teen had just about enough of Allen Walker's sloppy violin playing. As concert master, Kanda felt somewhat responsible for Walker's failures. And that, of course, meant that it wasn't perfect. Things below the perfect standard always seemed to irk Kanda, and Walker's sloppy playing was definitely taking a rapid climb toward the top of this list, especially because of his training and pride as a violinist—not exactly a good thing, to be on the Irk-list.

Despite their last chair's crappy playing, others had taken a liking to the bean sprout, despite their concert master's opposition. Their bass section leader, the senior named Lavi, seemed to spend more of his time picking on the bean sprout rather than Kanda—this, the master violinist was glad for. Another sophomore, Lenalee Lee, the Chinese cello section leader, seemed to adore the white-haired teenager who was her age and spent most of her time with him. It appeared to be that they had some classes together.

Kanda personally didn't see what the big hype about Walker was. Sure, he was a transfer student from Ohio, but for one thing, he was short. He had white hair. He had that freaky tattoo-looking thing about his left eye. But what irked Kanda the most about Walker was how he didn't seem to understand that he needed to get better—or to put it in a more understandable, less delicate way, he sucked. The violinist always pointed his violin down, as if he were ashamed, pulled too little during his bowing, and whatever bowing he used, it always flew over the fingerboard, staining the delicate strings of his poor violin with rosin residue.

Fingering his own precious violin, Mugen (named by his stupid teacher and guardian Tiedoll on insistence that naming violins makes one attached to them and therefore making one take better care of it), Kanda grumbled to himself about how he would never misuse Mugen by letting Walker of all people play it. But Tiedoll always said, intelligence was meant to be shared. Kanda rolled his eyes as he wiped Mugen's strings. When did he ever listen to that old man about anything besides music? He sure as heck wasn't going to start now, of all times.

Sure, they were only in high school, but that transfer sophomore Walker was getting on Kanda's nerves. Every day, he would walk into the orchestra, fake smiles and all, bringing a feel-good attitude about him, as if he were here to relax and hang with friends instead of play in an orchestra.

That was one reason why Kanda decided that day, almost five months since Walker transferred in, he was going to take a stand. After all, he was Kanda—he didn't stand for anything that didn't work with him. He stood menacingly next to Walker.

"Hey. Bean sprout."

Walker chattered on, as if he had heard nothing. Irritated, Kanda kicked him behind the knees gently. The sophomore lost his balance, and, realizing he had miscalculated his strength, Kanda grabbed the white-haired teen as he fell. It was his own fault it had happened, so it was his responsibility.

Walker looked up and saw the senior's glare. Immediately, he turned a shade of red—probably embarrassment, Kanda noted—and sputtered a quick apology. Kanda rolled his eyes.

"Che. Next time, listen when I'm talking to you, bean sprout, and that won't happen again," he retorted.

Walker puffed up his cheeks a bit, irritated at the discriminating nickname. "My name is Allen."

Kanda, who had almost turned away completely, only glared out at Walker through the corner of his eyes. "A bean sprout is a bean sprout."

And that was that. Kanda walked away, leaving Walker unable to say anything back to him now. Kanda felt rather proud of himself, having released a bit of his anger against the little transfer student.

He stopped, suddenly aware that his goal, his reason for approaching the bean sprout, was still unfinished.

Quickly but advertently, Kanda strode back over to the duo of idiots and Lenalee (composed of Walker, Lavi, and Lenalee; thus, duo of idiots and Lenalee, who was not to be messed with due to her nearly mental older brother) and stood directly behind Walker. "Hey. Bean sprout," he grunted.

"It's _Allen,_ I told yo—" The sophomore said irritated, pivoting on his heels. His sentence was stopped short when he noticed the two inches of distance between Kanda and him. Cautiously, he took a step back before continuing quietly, "It's Allen."

Kanda rolled his eyes again. "You. Bean sprout. You suck at violin, so you're going to take lessons from me."

"Eh?" Allen's face fell from it's fake smile into a sloppy, disappointed form of its original shape.

"You heard me. Lessons every Thursday after school at my apartment. I can't stand your sloppy playing." Kanda said, avoiding Walker's eyes. After a moment's hesitation, Kanda turned on his heels and walked away quickly. Why he couldn't wait to get away, he didn't know.

-

The truth was that Allen thought Kanda was quite attractive, despite his personality flaws. A few manners here, a dab of consideration there, and wham-o! A good, dateable person, by Allen's definitions.

Not that he was looking, anyway. No, no; he wasn't gay or anything. Of course not. He wasn't gay.

...Or so he claimed. Allen still found himself following Yuu Kanda with his eyes. He noticed every grade sheet his student ID was on (he wasn't a stalker; he just happened to come across it while coincidentally hacking into the school system… he wasn't a stalker… honestly…), every time they passed by in the hallways.

Nevertheless, what captivated Allen from the start was the sight of Kanda playing the violin.

He had found by asking around that Kanda had been playing the violin since he was eight. That means now, since he was eighteen, that he had played for ten years. Allen had heard him practicing one late afternoon, during the summer, while Allen was working part-time to catch up to his guardian's debts.

The sound was solemn; solitary, maybe. It matched the long-haired silhouette perfectly as the low notes danced easily on the G string. Suddenly it swerved into a quick scale climb into some high position on the fingerboard like something lashing out, and then slinking back down like an eel into its cave. Allen had sat there, enchanted by the music, still held by its magic long after the music ended.

That was why Allen had joined the orchestra.

He had no musical talent (not that he had tried or anything), but he wanted to play the violin all the same. If he could play as well as Kanda had that day, then he could die happy. He admired the stoic senior, despite his personality faults, because of the way that he played the violin.

So that day, when Kanda had so rudely kicked him behind the knees, when Allen found out it was the long-haired senior who had caught him, he couldn't resist the blush that crept onto his face. He stammered a quick apology before he was interrupted by quite the rude comment. Height discrimination.

However, when Kanda had come back again, Allen had found himself face-to-chest (A/N: correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how tall Allen is, right…?) with the long-haired teen, and unconsciously took a step back.

Allen only brought himself to look up at the older teen's eyes, only focusing on keeping them level. Kanda's full sentence brought him into attention. "You suck at violin, so you're going to take lessons from me."

He shook his head a little bit, disbelief at what Kanda said settling in. "Eh?" He wasn't sure of whether to be happy or distressed.

"You heard me. Lessons every Thursday after school at my apartment. I can't stand your sloppy playing."

Allen's face fell. Now he was sure that he was dreaming. As Kanda stalked away, Allen could only stand, face agape in a mix of horror and joy that he couldn't control.

That afternoon, Wednesday, Allen decided to stop by the deserted field where Kanda had practiced that one day where he had discovered the senior playing his Mugen in hopes of running into the senior again. As he approached the field, he stopped and closed his eyes with a gentle smile.

Kanda was there, playing his Mugen again.

The piece this time was, by no doubt, simpler than the last one, though still technically challenging. It was at a quick allegretto pace, and though the bowing was difficult and the notes were double stops, no less; Kanda still played the piece beautifully and perfectly. But on closer inspection, one could see that, although his eyes were closed peacefully while playing, he seemed to have no joy in playing the violin, for his eyebrows were creased thoughtfully and didn't seem to completely relax, as if he were trying to remember something on the tip of his tongue. Even still, one could clearly hear the respect and love that he had for playing his instrument.

Kanda played several pieces, each one ranging from a challenging virtuoso piece to a beginner's lullaby, and all were musically beautiful. It wasn't too long until the music stopped, the sun was lower in the sky, and Allen found himself lying down on Mugen's case, practically asleep.

The senior nudged Allen with his foot, then poked him with his bow, despite the fact that he knew it could be dangerous to the thin rod of wood. "Hey. Bean sprout. Get off Mugen's case."

Allen's eyelids fluttered, and he rolled off, still sleepy. Kanda rolled his eyes and put away his case, deciding to leave the other teen there. As he stood up to leave, he had second thoughts about leaving the sophomore on the middle of the field like that.

After a few moments' hesitation, Kanda hoisted Walker onto his back and carried him home, unsure of why he did so.

-

The apartment that Yuu Kanda stayed in was small, but more than enough for the two people who lived in it. There were four rooms and one bathroom in the small apartment. However, only one of four rooms in the apartment was technically vacant, and one of the rooms that wasn't might as well have been vacant, too. All that was in there was a bed, a few belongings, and a lotus trapped in an hourglass.

Allen woke up in this room, and glanced around hazily, wondering where he was and why he was in this strangely melancholy room. It definitely wasn't his; that was for sure. A Black Order Academy uniform was visible from the unclosed closet door. So the room belonged to someone in his school. Kanda strode in wearing a casual black t-shirt and jeans while the observations continued, and the shock turned to realization, then more shock.

_I'm… in Kanda's house._

Kanda scowled at the sophomore that had caused him so much trouble. "Hey, bean sprout. Next time you go out to the field, chose a better sleeping place, you homeless idiot." He turned away, and on closer inspection, Allen could see that his long hair was slightly disheveled, as if someone had been on his back to mess it up in the firs place. The phone rang.

"AH! YUU! GET THE PHONE!" a voice, somewhat feminine screamed from outside. "I CAN'T; I'M COOKING DINNER. YOU GET IT."

With an indignant "che", Kanda bolted out of the apartment. Allen wondered whom the feminine voice belonged to. He pulled back the black sheets (somehow, he wasn't too surprised by the depressing color) and stepped out of bed. When he peered out of the room, he didn't see anyone until he came to the kitchen.

A figure that looked exactly like a feminine, short-haired Kanda was at the stove. Allen craned his head back and forth to try to get a better look, and the person turned around, seeming to sense his interest.

She was just a bit shorter than Kanda, if not as tall, and had his sapphire eyes and dark blue hair, but hers was cropped to be just below her shoulders. Her figure was thin but muscled, and her fingers were obviously a musician's. They were slim, long, and, although he was far, he could see the muscle built up in them. Allen thought that he'd know this girl if he'd seen her before, but he didn't.

She smiled, and Allen noted that this might be the only basis to which he could imagine Yuu Kanda smiling. Gently. As in, something other than a smirk. "Hello. You're awake," she said cheerfully. She turned off the fire and left the pot on the stove. "My name's Aki Kanda, Yuu's twin sister. Nice to meet you."

Had Allen not already been attracted to her brother (he shoved the thought to the farthest corner of his thoughts), he would have thought Aki quite cute. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Allen Walker."

"Allen Walker? _That_ Allen Walker?" she asked, tilting her head in disbelief. "Yuu talks about you all the—"

"Do not!" Kanda interjected indignantly. He was angry, sure, but Allen noticed that his lips were twitching, as if they wished to smile. "Don't listen to a word that stupid autumn girl says," Kanda snapped at Allen. "She hasn't been here in California since summer. She wouldn't know anything of what I talk about at home."

Aki hooked her arms around her older brother intimately, looking more and more of a couple than siblings, and Allen could feel the heat rising to his face. It was so weird; they were mirror images of each other.

"Aww, but why not, Yuu-chan? I'm quite honest." Her face loomed closer to her brother's, taunting him, but the embarrassing scene was interrupted by Allen's stomach. She looked at the guest and smiled. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Allen threw up his hands in front of him, attempting to reject before his hunger got the best of him. "No, it's fine, really. I eat a lot; it would be—"

"Oh, come on!" Aki grinned, slapping Allen on the back. "It's fine. No one eats more than Yuu when it's soba night."

Kanda gave an indignant growl, and Allen realized that this girl was the reason why the violinist had turned out to be so moody. Though younger, this teen was enough to drive one crazy—Allen had only known her for a few minutes, but he had already felt awkward with Aki there.

After a moment of silence, Aki took this to be a "yes," and before Allen knew it, he was seated in one of the chairs, heaping plates of food in front of him. Of course, this being Allen, the food disappeared at a rapid pace, but it didn't seem to disturb the Kanda twins. They ate, one stone-faced and the other with a bright smile. Any thoughts of them being mirror images disappeared quickly.

Finally, they stood up and put the dishes away. Kanda, at Aki's request, was to show Allen around the house. The first room was Kanda's room, of course, and the older twin made it clear that, in the event that he came to their house again, Allen would not be allowed inside his room unless given specific permission.

The next room was Aki's room. They only peeked inside, for Kanda curtly informed his underclassman about Aki's possessiveness. But what they did see was a bunch of clutter and complicated music sheets.

The last "occupied" room wasn't occupied by a person. Instead, a large grand piano was in the middle of it all. Sunlight filtered in from the window at the far end, reflecting from the piano's black sheen. As if in a trance, Allen walked slowly to it, brushing his fingers lightly over the black keys. The feeling of the piano keys under his fingers was nostalgic, somehow, but he had never played a piano before.

"Aki plays it," Kanda said finally, watching the sophomore from the door. Allen turned back to see Kanda walking towards him. "I used to play a little, but I sucked at the piano. The violin is my instrument."

With one knee on the bench, Kanda played a short melody that didn't have too much joy in it, like his expression, as a demonstration. This kind of playing, Allen thought, is nothing like the way Kanda plays the violin.

Aki burst into the room when he finished. "Why hello there," she greeted curtly, rushing to the piano to brush its keys lightly. As she patted the piano, she crooned, "I'm here now, baby, don't cry because stupid Yuu had the nerve to play you…"

"Ah. That reminds me. Aki, why don't you go to the same school as Yuu?" Allen asked. He thought he'd remember if he saw a girl at school who looked as similar to the stoic senior as Aki did.

Aki smiled mysteriously as she slid onto the piano bench. "Listen," she murmured, as if it would explain everything.

She hit the first note, a chord, and a second cord before going onto a complicated left hand rhythm that, combined with the right hand, created a six-over-four melody where the right hand dominated the melody. It flew across the keyboard, taking only a few short breaks here and there, primarily playing complicated melodies. When the piece broadened into a cadence, she took her hands off the keys, and left Allen feeling as stunned as after he listened to Kanda on the violin. He looked up and saw his upperclassman with a relaxed smile on his face, something not often seen.

Aki nudged Allen. "That's his favorite piece. Fantasie-Impromptu by Frederic Chopin." In a louder voice, so that Kanda was jolted from his daze, she continued, "I go to your school, Allen, of course I do, but since the beginning of the year, when you transferred in to Black Order Academy, I've been out overseas in Europe playing at piano competitions."

"And yet, that monster of a girl still gets perfect grades," Kanda growled as Aki beamed. "Don't you think you should be going home now, bean sprout?" he asked, the pissed-off look on his face returning.

Allen glanced at the clock, which read 8:30, and shook his head. "It's fine. My guardian doesn't even come home on most days. I hear he's lost somewhere in Vietnam on army business, but that was a month ago," he said nonchalantly. "By the way, where exactly are we? I might live nearby."

Aki led him to the front. Allen peered out the apartment door, and his eyes widened. "I live in this apartment complex…! My house's down that way," he remarked, pointing down to the left, the direction opposite the road to school. "Why don't I ever see you guys going to school, Kanda?"

Kanda glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "I leave early."

"Oh, yeah," Aki groaned. "He just had to sign us both up for zero period. Stupid Yuu-chan; always the early riser."

Allen laughed. "I have zero period, too, but do you guys really walk to school that early? I haven't seen you. Ever."

"I guess," Aki sighed wistfully. "I wish I could get more sleep. Every morning here in America, I wake up at 5 o'clock to _that_," she groaned, pointing at Kanda's irritated expression. "Imagine how I feel. Bad days, every day. It makes me miss being on the road and at different competitions."

As Allen left about a half-hour later, he found that he missed the company that Kanda and Aki (mostly Aki, for the older twin didn't speak much to him) provided as he came home to silence and loneliness. He opened the door to his apartment, announcing his return to no one but his cat, Timcampy. The golden tawny with a cross-shaped fur section rubbed his head against Allen's leg as he strode into the empty house, heading straight for his bed. He wanted the next day to come so he could try to wake up early enough to catch the Kanda twins leaving for school.

-

"For the last time, that bean sprout is of no interest to me!" Kanda shouted in rapid Japanese, the language they used when alone to speak to his twin sister. "Baka-imouto (stupid little sister)." Not for the first time, Kanda felt as if his younger twin sister was five years older than he, what with her pestering about getting a girlfriend or a boyfriend (it's not like it was illegal to be gay, after all).

Aki rolled her eyes, continuing in Japanese. "But Yuu, you took him home! The only person you've ever taken home was Lavi with Lenalee on his heels, and that's just because Lavi's a freakin' stalker! And you let him into your _room!_ Sure, that may have been because hell would have frozen over if you had dropped him into my room, but if you did take someone home, you'd dump them on the couch!"

Kanda glared pointedly at his sister, quickly thinking of a way to retort but not in a way that would seem as if he cared. "Look. Sure, I took that stupid bean home, but what the hell? It's like taking home a stray cat. Wouldn't you take it home?"

Immediately after he had spoken that reply, he regretted it. He could just imagine the mischievous smirk that had surely spread across Aki's face, and he could hear her inner voice chuckling.

Speaking in English now, Aki said, "Oh… So Allen is… a stray cat? How adorable. You love cats. If he's a stray, you can take him home aaaany time you want," she said teasingly, nudging her older brother's arm with her elbow. "It's no problem with me. Really. Any day is fine. Juuuuust fine."

Kanda glanced at his sister. "Is that so? Then in that case, he'll be coming over every Thursday for violin lessons."

He walked away with a smirk tugging at his lips, but he quickly wiped it away. He could just see the shock/joy mix on his sister's face.

From the closed bathroom door, he could hear his sister's cheer of delight.

Honestly, Kanda didn't know what to do with that stupid bean sprout. Since the day he transferred into orchestra, he'd been on Kanda's mind. Walker captured his upperclassman's attention with his silver-blue eyes, his white hair… Everything he did was part of Kanda's scope, too, but he couldn't explain why. Finally, exhausted, Yuu told himself that it was Walker's crappy playing that made him invite the sophomore over in the first place and that made him tell his younger sister.

He fell asleep, Walker still nagging his mind.

-

The next day after school, Allen walked out of his sixth period class to find Kanda leaning against the wall next to the door. He hadn't been able to catch the senior that morning because Allen had woken up too late.

"Kanda…" Allen said, mildly shocked. He let a pleasant, fake smile let itself be known on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"You're coming to my house for violin lessons. Remember?"

Allen thought for a bit before he remembered. Grinning again, but this time with a tinge of longing to avoid, he said, "Do I have to go? I don't want to go to your house just to get verbally abused because I can't play the violin as well as he can."

A flame of heat shot up Allen's arm as Kanda rolled his eyes and grabbed the younger teen's wrist. The grip was firm, but gentle; the way an adult would grip his child's hand while crossing the street. It reminded Allen of the days when his foster father, Mana Walker, was still alive. The touch was endearing, but it made people stare as the two strode quickly through the halls. And—did he really see it, or was he imagining it?—Allen thought that he could see a tinge of red on the senior's cheeks.

"Hey, is that Yuu Kanda? Is he holding hands with that kid?" "Who's that kid holding hands with Kanda?" "Oh, my god; Yuu is so _hot!_"

Kanda suppressed the urge to kick someone in the face as he heard those comments… or stuff similar to it.

They met up with his sister at the front gate, where she was fiddling with her short hair, twirling it about one long, thin finger. Upon hearing them come, Aki stood up and smiled. "Well, are you ready to go?"

Allen nodded, shifting his weight nervously while keeping a firm grip on the violin they had stopped by the orchestra room to pick up. The senior spared a glance at his underclassman before walking off, not saying a word.

"Wait right there, Yuu-chan!" a familiar voice called, grating the older twin's ears. Both turned around at the same time to see Lavi and Lenalee coming up behind them. "Where are you two going with Allen-kun?"

"Nowhere," Kanda and Aki said curtly. The older twin added, quite roughly, "Don't call me by my first name."

Sensing a secret underneath the curt tone, Lavi's I-found-something-interesting smile spread across his face. "Well, then… is it okay if Lenalee and I come over today, Aki? Since, of course, you aren't doing anything…"

The younger twin could feel the need to know what was up emanating from her fellow senior, and she knew from prior experience that Lavi wouldn't let go of this piece of valuable information until he knew what it was about. With a quick glance to her brother to let him know, she grudgingly nodded. Lenalee noticed this brief exchange and smiled apologetically to her friend. It was Lavi, after all.

The group of five walked together to the apartment complex that three-fifths of the group lived in. Lavi lived down the street in the family-owned bookstore run by a mysterious man who called himself "Bookman", while Lenalee lived down in the other direction in another apartment with her brother Komui, a surgeon whose medical practice was quite… to describe it in a moderately-accurate way, questionable.

Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee were engaged in conversation about typical stuff—schoolwork, friends, and so on, with Aki making comments every now and then. Occasionally, Lavi would try to include stoic Yuu in the conversation, but his sister smiled quietly and shook her head before he could try. She knew that he was stressed out just by taking Allen over to his house again, and if teased, could cause an early apocalypse.

Jogging up to catch up to his long strides, Allen glanced up at the violinist, contemplating on whether or not his actions would be reasonable. Deep, sapphire eyes connected briefly with silvery-blue ones, giving both persons time to gaze into the other's eyes. Finally deciding against it, he stopped to fall back, but was dragged along by a firm grip and a rise of heat in his arm. Kanda had grabbed his wrist again.

Touched by the gentle grip again, Allen continued at Kanda's pace for a bit before he realized where he was. He turned back, startling the older teen, to see Lavi with an absorbed gaze on his face.

"Wow, Yuu," he commented breathlessly, "I didn't know you had a thing for Allen."

Kanda snorted, turning around to face forward, not realizing his strong grip was on Allen's wrist, not his Mugen's case. He walked forward.

"I do not have a thing for that stupid bean sprout. Why does every—" Yuu stopped, suddenly aware of something holding him back. When he turned back, he noticed that his hand had been securely attached, and with a strong grip, to the younger teen's hand. He whipped his head around, his sapphire eyes suddenly shrinking to a snake's pair of eyes. "You!" he snarled at Allen, who had just been in a daze, embarrassed. The sophomore snapped up, instantly alert.

"M-me…?" he asked in a small voice.

"Yes, you, you stupid bean sprout. Why am I holding your hand?"

Allen pouted, his lower lip sticking out a bit. "Why don't you try asking yourself, stupid BaKanda?"

"What was that, bean sprout? Are you saying this is my fault?" Kanda snarled, feeling the heat rise to his face.

The younger teen could feel the anger rising as he retorted, "Yeah, it is. Look whose hand was grabbing whose!"

Lenalee's giggle interrupted the two. Aki and Lavi, seeing the humor, too, joined her and they laughed for a bit before finally calming down, unaware of the glares boring into their skin. Aki smiled good-naturedly.

"You guys look like a married couple," she chuckled.

The two glared at Aki, then at each other before quickly turning away. Occasionally, their gaze would meet, but then they'd quickly glance away. Whether they were ashamed or angry, it was clear that the two were annoyed.

After arriving at the Kanda residence, Allen ignored the group and continued down the road, walking to his apartment. The elder twin grabbed the thick collar of Allen's uniform, stopping the younger teen in his tracks to glare resentfully at the senior.

"I thought I said you were going to be taking lessons today," Yuu said, not even bothering to disguise the venom in his voice.

Allen's grip tightened on his violin case. He frowned, obviously contemplating on whether or not he should use the $100 violin to whack Kanda or not. Kanda answered that by gracefully dragging his underclassman with the arm not holding his own violin through the front door, the other three trailing leisurely behind.

Without much effort, Kanda set Mugen down and tossed Allen unceremoniously onto the couch, taking time only to drop his stuff next to Mugen. He pointed at the case Allen held with a discriminating finger.

"Open the case," he demanded.

Allen gave him a glare, as if he were going to object, and then finally opened the case. He pulled it out of the Velcro straps, the four strings twanging oddly with the movement. Kanda's scowl deepened at the pitch.

"God damn it, stupid bean sprout; what the fuck did you do to your violin?" he cursed softly, holding out his hand to take the violin. Kanda grabbed the bow from the case and, with a bit of difficulty due to lack of a chin rest, tuned it. All the strings were at least a half step off, if not an entire note.

When the violin was returned to Allen, the teen brushed his fingers across the fingerboard, reveling in the harmonious sound the perfect fifth intervals gave off. Up until then, the two had been oblivious to the three behind them, who had set up a recording system so they could watch up in Aki's room without being discovered.

Kanda took out his own Mugen and tuned it, only having to toy with the fine tuners on his E string and adjusting his A string a bit. He pulled out the second violin part, Allen's part, from his case and set it on a music stand he had retrieved from his room. "Play that," he commanded.

Shakily, Allen put up his violin and gripped his bow. Instantly, Kanda's bow pushed up Allen's arm, which had been pointing the violin down, and forced his back straight. He tipped the scroll of the violin up higher and adjusted Allen's former fist-like grip on the bow, and moved it up towards the end of the frog.

He stepped back to double-check his work before nodding and approving of Allen's posture. The sophomore took this as a cue to start playing.

This particular piece was a Brandenburg Concerto, and although it was quite simple, it had a few challenging parts that Allen played incorrectly—his rhythm would always be correct and the right fingers would be pressed, but his pitch would always be a painful screech away from the note in its true pitch. Kanda felt like ripping his ears out.

As he collapsed onto the sofa next to Allen, he muttered angrily, "This is going to be a long afternoon."

-

Allen wandered back into the room with the grand piano. He rather liked the feel of this room; it emphasized the importance and the majesty of the instrument. Again, he felt joy and nostalgia at the feeling of having the sleek keys under his fingers. Closing his eyes, he remembered the finger patterns Kanda had used yesterday to play that quick little melody. He slid onto the bench and began to play.

Although he stumbled a bit due to lack of memory, Allen's playing was more musical than Kanda's had been. He had never played this before—he had never played the piano before, to be exact—but he knew exactly how to make one part more beautiful by either making it quieter, stretching it out, shortening it, or making it louder. Each crescendo was carefully planned, and the quick, thirty-second exercise Kanda had played had become a minute-long piece.

He smiled to himself, happy with what he had accomplished. He lifted his fingers to the keys once more, remembering Aki's playing. Allen remembered the first two chords with ease, but when he hit the fast, six-over-four rhythms, he had to spend more time trying to remember the way the notes had resonated.

A hand reached over his shoulder to tap the correct note. When Allen looked back, he saw long, dark-blue hair draping down like curtains in front of his face, and followed the hair up to Kanda. He glared down at the younger teen, as if discriminating him for not knowing the piece.

"It's a G after the C octave," he muttered softly. "Why are you playing this? This is a virtuoso's piece, not a beginner's."

Aki came into the room unannounced. "Allen, have you played before?" She slid onto the seat next to him, her brother still hovering over the two.

"Ah… no, not until today. Yesterday was actually the first time I'd ever touched a piano," he admitted sheepishly.

Both twins gaped at him, including Lavi and Lenalee, who had appeared from behind the piano. "Allen… by any chance… were you playing that exercise Yuu was playing yesterday by… by ear? Without any prior knowledge?" Lavi asked cautiously. He didn't know much about music, but he knew that to play by ear without knowing anything about playing piano was quite a feat.

The sophomore nodded, unsure of what it meant.

Aki broke out into a smile. "I'll teach you piano. It's also pretty obvious to everyone here that you can't play violin. After you get to read the notes fluently, you can ask the orchestra director to play piano accompaniment instead of playing violin and killing the audience's ears." She chuckled good-naturedly.

As the four discussed Allen's future as a concert pianist, Kanda retreated slowly, so that no one would notice. Or at least, he hoped so. Allen noticed when Kanda's presence left from hovering above him, and was aware of the senior's retreat into the shrouds of darkness concealing his heart.

The moment had been perfect, or so it had been for Kanda before the three other intruders had intervened. He had clearly felt the bean sprout's warmth, his head just at his chest where he could hold it tightly…

He shook his head slightly, disturbing waves of deep blue hair. It came again—the waves of thoughts about Walker. It had been happening a lot that day, and a bit yesterday, too. It had actually started quite a while ago—the day he had transferred into orchestra. He had caught Yuu's eye, no problem. It was staying in there that kept the violinist preoccupied with his thoughts.

Occasionally, during the most random times, he would relate something to the bean sprout. He had no idea why, but something would remind him of the white-haired teen, and he would quickly shake the thought. But on other occasions, the thoughts wouldn't leave his head, and he would sink into daydreams about the bean sprout and him. That was part of the reason why Kanda picked on Allen; it was payback for invading his thoughts, his personal space too often.

Kanda shut himself up in his room, hoping to be left alone.

Allen excused himself to go to the bathroom about five minutes after Kanda left. He knocked on the senior's room, having the distinct impression that he'd be in there. After a few moments, there was no reply, so he tried the doorknob. A whisper of cloth against cloth made him look up to see Kanda sitting up and alert. His surprise melted into the familiar mask of detest.

Feeling as if he had interrupted something important to the Japanese-American, Allen turned to leave when Kanda's voice was heard.

"Hey. Bean sprout."

Allen contemplated for a moment on whether or not to turn around. If he did, he'd be replying to the nickname and giving BaKanda more to mock him about. If he didn't, then it would seem as if he were angry. And he wasn't, really.

"… Walker," he said, forcing himself even to say the last name. Allen turned around, his eyes locked on Kanda's sapphire blue orbs. The illuminated lotus in the hourglass was the only light; the curtains drawn across the window. "You should learn to play piano. It would be… a great addition to the orchestra," he said finally.

A slow smile spread across Allen's face as he realized what Kanda was doing. He was being complimented by the first chair, and with a chuckle of delight, sat down next to Yuu. The smile was brilliant and happy, radiating with the pride of being complimented for once by stoic Yuu.

"Thank you, Yuu."

For once, the violinist didn't protest the use of his first name, but instead welcomed it. His arm wrapped gently around the younger teen's waist. Allen began to fidget, feeling awkward but ecstatic about being in the respected musician's arms. Realizing that he wouldn't let go, Allen finally calmed down.

After a while, though, when the arms didn't retreat, Allen became concerned. He turned in Kanda's grip to find that the senior was asleep. The sophomore smiled awkwardly. He hadn't counted on Kanda not sleeping last night, but it was apparent to him when he saw Kanda that the bags under his eyes were from lack of sleep.

Kanda turned, his grip still firm enough that Allen turned with him, letting out a quick gasp. The two were now entwined in an implying manner where Allen was under the senior. "K-Kanda…!" he hissed, the weight of his upperclassman combined with the pure thought of having him on Allen making his whisper more of a rasp.

Murmuring in his ear, Kanda groaned, "Ugh… stu…pid… bean… spro…ut… shut up…" The sophomore couldn't tell if he was dreaming or if he was sleep talking. His grip tightened and they rolled over again, side-by-side now.

Allen turned in Kanda's arms to find that there were only two inches between the two. He slowly brought his hands up to cup the elder's face, still angry-looking, reveling in the warmth of his cheeks.

Was it just him, or was Kanda running a fever?

Curious, his hands traveled up to his forehead, where it was also warm. Allen hurriedly wormed himself out of Kanda's arms and, when he stood up to look out the door, a trickle of long, dark hair shot out the entrance. His brows knitted together, Allen stalked carefully to the door. He tried not to alarm the people who had been eavesdropping, he paced his steps carefully. Unsurprisingly, they were Lavi, Lenalee, and Aki.

"… What are you guys doing here?" Allen asked, wondering just how long they had been there. He shook his head. "… Actually, don't answer. I have a feeling I'd be upset if I knew. But anyway… Aki, I think Ka—Yuu is running a fever," he said, calling his upperclassman by his first name for the sake of his sister understanding who he meant. Allen glanced back into the room as he heard a muffle of a gasp. He eyed the supposedly sleeping form cautiously before turning back to Aki.

She had a bemused smile on her face, with Lenalee wearing one to match. "We'll see right to it, Allen; don't worry. Go ahead and go home."

The sophomore glanced anxiously at the piano room. "Can I…?" he asked carefully, wondering if the pianist would let him.

Aki smiled. "Of course. Lavi, teach Allen how to read bass clef so he can start looking at some of the music in the back corner drawer of my room. The mahogany one covered in all the clutter?"

"That's all of them," Lavi chuckled, Allen following the bassist into the clutter-covered room as Aki and Lenalee rushed into Kanda's room.

Aki glomped her brother, a delightful whisper slipping out of her ears. "Oh, Yuu-chan, I'm so happy! I'll be an aunt soon!"

"Shut up!" her brother snapped, trying to push her away with one hand. He sat up and tried to hide his blushing face with his free hand. "It's not like that stupid bean sprout would even try anything like that, anyway. Who the fuck would want to rape that kid?"

"Don't use such vile language," Aki scolded good-naturedly.

"And who said Allen would be the one on bottom? Maybe you'll be the one giving birth," Lenalee chimed, adding onto Aki's humor. "Wouldn't your parents be extremely proud?" she grinned.

Kanda resisted the urge to toss his sister and her accomplice out the window. "Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

The two bounded cheerfully out of the room so that "mean ol' Yuu" could actually get some rest.

He lied down on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a bit. What had compelled him to do something like that to the boy he had only begun talking to two days ago, he didn't know. It was a mystery to him, but back then, he had the overwhelming desire to kiss the tender skin under the snow white hair…

Kanda slapped his arm across his forehead. Having the quiet time to think by himself wasn't helping in the slightest.

"… you sure, Allen? We'll pay for you," Kanda heard his sister offer.

The bean sprout's voice could be heard now. "I'm fine, really. I'm not that hungry at all…" Suddenly he stopped, the other voices laughing in unison. Kanda assumed that the bean sprout had a traitor stomach. He chuckled softly, continuing. "Really, Aki, I'm fine. I want to stay here for a bit longer."

"Are you sure? If that's the case, we're going to have you watch our precious older brother, brother-in-law," Lenalee joked. There was another pause and more laughter, before all of them chorused a goodbye.

For a few moments, there was silence, but then Kanda could hear the soft, muted steps Allen took towards the rooms. He realized belatedly that the sophomore was headed in his direction and hastily threw the covers over his head. If Kanda was discovered now, Walker would realize that he was awake and completely conscious during… _that_. He couldn't resist a shudder, despite the heat from under the covers.

The seconds dragged by as Kanda forced himself to breathe evenly. He heard Walker's footsteps approach the bed and stop. He shut his eyes as he felt the blankets stir above him, and a rush of cool air came by as the stuffiness was removed. A cold hand was pressed against his traitor face, which blushed deeply against his will. The touch sent embers across his skin, heating it evenly. It became increasingly difficult to continue the façade of being asleep.

Allen's hand lingered on Kanda's forehead for a bit before moving onto his cheek. The sophomore leaned down over the senior, smiling pleasantly with the knowledge that Kanda's fever was getting better. His hand paused as it hung, suspended by only an inch above his upperclassman's hair. It had been a long time since the hair tie had slipped off, and his fingers itched to tangle themselves in his silky hair. Deciding against it, the apprentice pianist stroked it gently instead.

After a few thoughtful strokes in which Kanda could hardly repress his racing heart, Allen finally left. Not too long after, the Fantasie-Impromptu could be heard, riddled with mistakes as the apprentice pianist worked out the rhythms by remembering how Aki had done them the other day. Kanda sat up, listening to his ("My?" Kanda objected to himself, disgusted with the fact that he had resorted to such feminine-like language so soon after realizing the extent of his feelings toward the bean sprout) bean sprout play his favorite piece. After an hour of listening to stumbles, mistakes, overlooked key signatures, and incorrect rhythms, Allen could finally play the first four pages smoothly. But as he played, Kanda could hear no joy in the playing. The playing sounded monotonous; metronomic, even, unlike the melody he had played earlier.

Kanda decided that now was a good a time as ever to step in with some advice for the blossoming musician. When he walked into the room, the violinist could see Allen's frustration through his playing. The sophomore put his hands back onto the bench and tossed his head back, sighing. The senior jabbed his underclassman playfully in the back of his head, pretending to be annoyed, but joined him on the bench.

"Hey, bean sprout. You know your music doesn't sound any better than Aki's, right?" he said, a bit harshly.

Allen nodded, a grimace on his face. "It doesn't sound right. I can tell the notes are right, but… it feels like something's missing. It doesn't capture the heart of the people listening to it like Aki's did."

Both teens were ever conscious of the hand that was touching theirs, though they didn't do anything about it, happy to leave it there as it was. Kanda glanced at Allen from time to time, watching his expression. Finally, the senior decided he couldn't take the silence anymore and spoke.

"Look. The most important thing to remember while you're playing music is why you're playing the piece, and what you're trying to portray. 'I have to because someone says so' isn't good enough. If you can't think of a good, personal reason, or something that you want to show the audience, then you can't reach too far musically, but you will in your technique. Think of why you want to play this piece and how you can make it beautiful before you begin every time."

After a pause, Allen's fingers slid over Kanda's, not trying to grip them in any way. "Why do you play violin, Yuu…?" he asked cautiously, wondering if the senior would object to the touch or to the usage of his first name.

"… I play because it's my passion," he said finally, unshaken by either, and pleased by the first. His own fingers intertwined gently with the pianist's. "When I play violin, I play because I feel the joy of being able to create something, destroy something, or both just through pulling a bow across a string." His face began to heat up, self-conscious of what he was saying. It was out of character for the stoic senior, but this kid… this Allen Walker had been making things complicated for him. Waltzing into his life, intruding his thoughts… there was little that he had done that wasn't complicated.

Allen smiled softly at the keyboard, then at the intertwined fingers. He pulled them away, slowly, reluctantly. Nevertheless, the fingers were placed onto the keyboard, and, knowing the range of notes in the piece, Kanda slid off of the bench. He wondered how the bean sprout would interpret the piece.

The first two notes were solemn, followed by the sixths with a mellow tone. The sixteenth notes in the left hand portrayed confusion, and echoed harmoniously with the mellow timekeeper. The confusion slowly organized itself, turning, very slowly, into more of a joyous realization. It suddenly slipped back into confusion, but this time in more of a rapid, chaotic confusion that expressed sorrow which calmed into more of a sweet melody. It felt calming, and a smile slipped onto Kanda's face as a hand found itself resting on Allen's shoulder as he swayed, feeling the rhythmic flow of the music. It was soothing, to say the least, and it was happy and content.

The music jerked quietly back into confusion. It climaxed into a confusing interlude where Kanda felt that it was too much for one person to bear. His grip on Allen's shoulder tightened, but the sophomore made no objection to the touch—or at least, he didn't show any. The confusion that his playing showed made Kanda wonder what kind of emotions those were. The confusion made way for confusion mixed with happiness, and settled with two quiet, smooth broken chords.

"… Just what the fuck were you thinking, stupid bean sprout…?" Kanda whispered, his grip on Allen's shoulder tightening again. "Playing such a piece when you've only been playing for twenty minutes…"

A small chuckle was heard, and a hiccup. A stutter of a reply could be heard, and the shoulders were trembling. It was then that Kanda realized that the younger teen was sobbing gently.

"Hey… hey…!" Kanda panicked, fearing that anything he would say would make the sobbing worse.

A small murmur caught his attention, and the senior leaned closer to the sophomore's mouth in an attempt to hear.

"It felt… so good…" Allen squeezed in between sobs, wiping the tears away from his face like a windshield wiper now. "It was like I was someone else, and I didn't have to worry about anything but what I was playing. It was like… being immersed in the good things, the per—the things I love."

Unsure of what to do, Kanda patted the pianist's back awkwardly before breaking out into a small smirk-grin combination. He didn't want to make him any more of a wreck, so he removed all traces of venom from his voice.

"That's what it should feel like."

-

When Lavi, Lenalee, and Aki came back not too long (about ten minutes) after he calmed down from his breakdown, Allen was depressed to find that Kanda had reverted back to the stick-up-his-arse attitude. He had found comfort in the fact that Kanda could be so nice. It couldn't be helped, though; Allen knew that. Had these three found out, they'd be in some pretty deep stuff.

Of course, the three had brought oodles of food for the sophomore, the reason why they had spent so long (about half an hour or an hour) being because of the sheer load of all the food, and a small carton of soba for the stoic senior, who retreated into his room, content with his tempura soba. Kanda had only come back outside to talk to his sister for a bit, hastily retreating into his room afterwards.

After properly disposing of his waste, Allen lingered in front of the senior's room, his hand poised for the knock that would never come. He had decided not to knock, and as he turned to leave, the door opened. A hand grabbed his again, and the tingling sensation of the embers flying up his arm returned. It was Kanda, of course; who else made Allen feel that way?

"Hey. Bean sprout. I need to talk to you for a minute."

With a quick glance to see that no one was looking, he slipped into the room after his upperclassman. They faced each other for a little bit, Allen gazing upwards while Kanda glared down at his underclassman. He could see trouble reflected in the sapphire blue eyes, and naturally, it wondered him.

Before Allen could open his mouth to speak, Kanda cleared his throat. "When you played that impromptu… what were you thinking about?"

"What?" Allen asked, incredulous. That was bugging Kanda? The reason why he played it with that kind of interpretation?

"What… what kind of emotion are you feeling that makes you so… that makes your playing so moving?"

A bemused smile spread across Allen's face. "So that's what you were wondering." He couldn't resist a snort.

"…Che," Kanda snorted indignantly, turning away from the bean sprout. "I shouldn't have asked you if you were going to be so mean about it. Stupid bean sprout," he muttered, walking to the door to show him out.

Allen grabbed his wrist, stopping Kanda in his tracks. "I… didn't mean it that way," he apologized. "It just came out that way. I'm sorry."

From the corner of his vision, Kanda could see the innocent smile on Walker's face. He gave another indignant "che" before sitting down on his bed, peeking out at the curtains. The sun had almost disappeared beneath the horizon now. Night was coming, and somehow Kanda found comfort in that fact.

The sophomore gazed at him with a feeling of longing, of even a bit of pity. He sat down next to Kanda, a few inches away from each other, and his fingers found Kanda's warm hand, his firm hand. The senior's gaze flickered to the intertwined hands, though he made no move to dispel them. Instead, he held the hand warmly, firmly, in his own. A soft blush raged across both faces.

Allen moved his hands—including the intertwined one—onto his lap, enveloping Kanda's hand with both of his own. He spoke softly and slowly, ponderingly; as if trying not to ruin the moment by saying something inappropriate.

"Kanda, I…" He took a deep breath, clasping the hand tighter and feeling it squeeze his in return before continuing. He didn't dare take a look toward the stoic twin. "I… am in love with you. When I played that piece… that Fantasie-Impromptu… I was thinking of how to describe our relationship… I want it to be more than friends." Allen could feel his face light on fire.

The senior could feel his entire face aflame, too, but he had enough discipline to stay stoic and not freak out. He also wasn't the kind of person to offer a warm, kind, heartfelt answer—that just wasn't Yuu Kanda. A reply wasn't something he could give right now. He had the answer—it had been pestering him for quite a while now—but he couldn't say it in a way that wasn't mean in the slightest. So instead, Kanda decided to do what he always did—let his actions speak for him.

Heart throbbing in his ears, Kanda gripped Allen's hands tightly and pushed down to prevent the sophomore from escaping. He turned around and placed his free hand just beyond the sophomore's hip, on the bed, and leaned forward, pressing the sophomore onto the bed. There were only centimeters between their faces: Kanda's portraying a sheepish glare while Allen was frozen in shock and embarrassment. The senior's arm weaseled between his back and the bed to hold his underclassman tightly to him, while the other stayed intertwined with Allen's. Suddenly, their lips crashed, locking in a tight kiss.

Both were vaguely aware of the door cracking open and a chorus of gasps arising, but neither cared. Allen was letting loose feelings that he once thought would never be returned. Kanda was realizing the true extent of the feeling called love. They were too immersed in their own worlds to notice the events in the real one.

Allen didn't leave Kanda's room that night, leaving the trio of eavesdroppers curious as to what the couple was doing. Aki reassured them that she heard nothing inappropriate, but even still, she finally put the hidden cameras she had installed in Yuu's room to use. Lenalee and Lavi didn't leave the Kanda household that night, either. The cellist had fallen asleep first on the couch, not bothering to take a blanket. Lavi, seeing that Lenalee would catch a cold (and therefore release an angry older brother into the world), came to bring a blanket to her when he suddenly found himself lying on the couch with her. Realizing that she wouldn't let him leave, he fell asleep with his arm around her waist.

Aki, noticing that she was out of place in the household of couples, ambled to the piano and played soothing lullabies for the two couples. Each piece was warm and welcoming, gently ushering the couples to a peaceful sleep.

The last piece she played was Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu.

-

The next morning, Friday, the couples realized that none of them had done anything related to hygiene last night—no shower, no teeth-brushing… not even brushing their hair, on Kanda and Lenalee's part. As Aki, Kanda, Lenalee, and Lavi got ready, Allen slipped back and went to his own apartment for his morning duties. Kanda noticed, of course, but made no move to make his relationship public.

As he stepped into his apartment, Allen heard rustling in the kitchen and the distinct smell of cigarettes. He walked in to find General Cross, his legal guardian and a general in the United States army, finally at home. The general glared at his "disciple," obviously irritated by the fact that he had decided to come home in the morning instead of last night.

Allen stiffened, expecting a harsh blow (Cross was a practitioner of Spartan beliefs) that never came. Instead came a pat on the shoulder and a puff from his cigarette. "Pack your bags, idiot disciple. I've been moved again. We're going all the way to Georgia."

"Georgia?!" he demanded, suddenly alerted by the word "moved". "Why…? What's wrong with California?!"

"I already told you, stupid disciple. I've been switched bases. This one just happened to be in Georgia."

"That's all the way across the country!"

Cross glared at him through fire-red locks. "Didn't I tell you not to get attached to anyone? You might be killing someone you love by moving away after getting too close. I told you that. Now hurry up and pack."

Dismayed, Allen complied. He turned to walk into his room, but on impulse, quickly pivoted back; angry now. "Stupid master!" he shouted before slamming the door. He pressed himself to the door, leaning on it, and sank down to his knees. "Stupid master… why'd we have to move so soon? It hasn't even been a year… There's no war; why does he need to be transferred? Stupid master…"

There was a dispute downstairs, some shouting that brought Allen to attention. Suddenly someone was knocking on the door to his room.

"… Hey. Bean sprout." Kanda?

"… What?" he asked quietly, not sure of the violinist could hear him. He didn't bother to repeat himself.

"Are you really moving to Georgia?"

"… Yeah. Stupid master and his flamboyant ways, always getting kicked from base to base… I thought I was used to it now."

There was more shouting from down the hall, and a voice that could only be Aki's shouted angrily, "Why not?!"

Silence followed, and Allen thought Kanda left. He walked away from the door, standing up to change and get ready for school. According to his and Cross's agreement from four years ago, when Allen's father died, Allen would get to go to school for one more day before spending the rest of the evening packing his few belongings. They would leave the next day for their new home.

He finished changing, and the doorknob turned slowly as Kanda let himself in. The violinist seated himself on the bed, bemused by the few belongings the pianist-in-training had in his room. It reminded Kanda faintly of his own.

Allen had spent a few minutes assembling his belongings for his last day of school while Kanda sat in silence. Glancing at the clock, the two stood up and walked out, Allen closing the door after his senior left.

They met Lenalee, Lavi, and Aki at the door with dejected faces. Cross was nowhere in sight. Allen smiled, fake and fragile, and the five set off, the mood completely different from yesterday afternoon. No jokes were exchanged, no insults thrown. Silence and gloom hung over like a cloud, especially between Allen and Kanda.

Aki, Lenalee, and Lavi exchanged glances, the last two with a hopeful glint. Aki smiled softly and shook her head. "It can wait," she murmured softly to them. In a louder voice, "I need to go do an errand. I'll be back for sixth period; don't worry," she called to her older twin, waving and walking off.

Kanda nodded, and Allen gave a small gasp as warm fingers caught his. He glanced down to see Kanda's hand clasping his firmly. A small smile spread on Allen's face, despite himself, and he relaxed a bit.

The school day flew by, Kanda and Allen catching each other's eye as often as possible. Kanda was horrified by the thought of Allen going away, of course. The violinist hid it well, but he was sad. Depressed, even. He didn't like the thought of finally finding something, only to have it yanked away as if it didn't belong to him in the first place.

School was over, and the two left campus holding hands, despite their peers' comments. Kanda had long since gotten over peer pressure, though the same could have been said for Allen, who had been the topic of each of his twenty new schools for at least a month each, excluding the aftermath when he left.

It was only when they were halfway home did they notice that Aki still hadn't come back. Lavi and Lenalee had gone their own way, leaving the two to their own business. Allen swung the intertwined hands tentatively, his grip tightening as they approached the apartment complex. They walked slowly now, enjoying each moment though it wasn't crunch time yet.

They finally came in front of Marian Cross's apartment. The general's few belongings were already packed, as was Allen's. The sophomore opened his mouth to ask who, but Aki stepped out, grinning sadly.

"I want you to keep my brother happy, even if it's only for a little while more," she explained softly. "I turned him into too much of a grouch."

Cross said nothing as he leaned against the wall, blowing through the cigarette in his mouth. Finally, he straightened and glanced at his constituent. "Go. Run. Have fun. Do whatever it is you kids do."

Allen smiled softly, and he broke into a run, dragging an unaware Kanda along with him. They turned and bolted into the Kanda household, stopping in the main room to catch their breath. The look on Allen's face told the older Kanda that he was contemplating on which he wanted to do first: play the piano, or spend time with Yuu.

Exasperated, Kanda rolled his eyes and pushed the teen into his room, promptly closing the door as he stepped in, too. They instantly were caught up in a kiss that seemed to last forever. Occasionally they would come for air, but the need for each other was strong, unrelenting. Somehow they had weaseled off the other's shirts and now lay on the bed, both half naked and tired. Kanda, currently on top, rested his head in the crook of Allen's neck, breathing quickly. The sophomore stroked his long hair, which had been let loose of its bonds and now hung haphazardly about the two.

Aki came in, knocking gently, and asked to see her brother. Kanda refused to leave his side, but Aki insisted, locking her brother's love in his room. Dejected and annoyed, he sat down on his sister's bed, where they were at the moment. To tell the truth, although his actions had made it clear of what the senior felt for Allen, he felt like he needed to say it.

The question remained. _How?_

"Allen's going to move, isn't he?" she murmured softly to her older brother, leaning on his shoulder. "Aren't you sad?"

"… Che. Of course I am," Kanda's voice said, broadcasted through the lotus-in-an-hourglass on the nightstand. Kanda was a subtle shade of red, and his sister sat up, smiling softly at him.

"Then why don't you tell him?"

Kanda stood up, glaring at his sister. "That's none of your business," he said sternly. "And besides," he continued, speaking in fluent Japanese, "that bean sprout will probably forget me as soon as his airplane is deployed."

"You're wrong," Aki replied in English, her eyes flickering to the hidden camera. "Allen's moved around many times before, but that doesn't mean that he forgets everyone he meets! Especially…" she paused. "Especially people that he's fallen in love with. He's not that kind of person."

Kanda's face showed remorse for his comment, but walked out of his sister's room without saying a word. Now was a good a time as ever to tell him, Kanda reminded himself as he turned the knob to his room. But when he saw Walker sitting on the bed with that dejected look, he threw away all other thoughts and placed an arm on his shoulder. Unsure of what to say, he withdrew his arm and turned away.

"… Go home and get some sleep," Kanda said finally. "You're leaving early tomorrow, aren't you?"

Allen glanced up at the senior. He looked down, sensing that, somehow, he wasn't wanted in the violinist's life anymore and walked out without a word. For a moment, Kanda was worried that the pianist-in-training had taken the comment the wrong way.

"If you want me to leave, BaKanda, you should've just said it outright," Allen said, a tint of anger nestled in his voice. He stalked out of the room, leaving Kanda frozen in shock. _What did he say…?!_

As he walked the short distance home, Allen shook his head. He should've known Kanda wanted him to leave. After all, the senior had never made his feelings for Allen clear. For all Allen knew, the senior could've just made him a fuck buddy or something just for the heck if it.

That was what he told himself, but a part of him wanted to believe that Kanda was trying to be sincere. Maybe those words were out of concern. It seemed like the senior cared about him. The kisses they had shared was also solid information.

He wanted to believe Kanda loved him.

-

The next morning, Allen woke up at 3 A.M. to get ready to board the plane. Though it didn't leave until 7 A.M., Allen and Cross agreed that it was best to get to the John Wayne Airport early. He glanced up at the dark, black sky dotted by only a few stars, visible through the light pollution. Then he glanced down the road to the Kanda household, hoping to find someone walking from that direction.

Lenalee and Lavi arrived first. They came, holding hands and a farewell gift of Allen's favorite food—mitarashi dango; thirty packs—and gave him a hug. They sat and talked a bit for a while. All throughout the time, though, the couple didn't seem in the least bit distressed or sad. Maybe it was an act, or maybe, like Kanda, they had been pretending to like him, too. The thought made Allen sad; he was rather fond of the two.

At last, around 3:30 A.M., two near-identical figures were outlined in the darkness. It was the Kanda twins. A remorseful smile let itself be known on Allen's lips, and delight spread across Lenalee and Lavi's faces. They hurried up to the two, grabbed Yuu's arm, and dragged him over to where Allen stood. The sophomore stood to excuse himself when a cold hand grabbed his.

"Che. Stupid bean sprout; you don't know how to wait?" Yuu muttered angrily. "I need to tell you something before you leave."

Allen hesitated, waiting until Cross slunk back into the apartment for warmth before turning around. When he did, Yuu's hand fell from his own, and his face looked warm, despite the cold morning air. He opened his mouth several times, closing it not too long after, as if not sure of what to say.

Finally, the elder Kanda twin took a deep breath and looked down at the bean sprout. Sapphire eyes locked into silver-blue ones, and he spoke. "Aishteiruyo, baka moyashi." The words were touching…

… Or at least, they would have been, had Allen learned any Japanese aside from "baka", which, unfortunately, became the only thing he understood.

The sophomore stared blankly at the flushed senior standing before him and tilted his head to the side. "Eh? What was that?" he asked awkwardly at the knowing insult. He felt as if he had missed something very important.

Yuu gave an indignant "che" and a glare before turning around. Allen could see that his ears were bright red in the dim light. "I said I love you, you stupid bean sprout. Next time, pay more attention."

Despite himself, Allen broke out into a relieved smile and wrapped his arms around Kanda's waist. "I do, too, BaKanda."

Cross came out from the apartment, handing Aki (the two had completely forgotten Aki and the others were still there) a stack of important-looking documents. He gave an indignant puff of smoke before speaking.

"There you go, Ms. Kanda, representative of Tiedoll," he said, a bit formally. "These are the legal documents officially putting the minor, Allen Walker, under the care of Mr. Tiedoll. Have fun with that stupid disciple."

Aki grinned widely, Lavi and Lenalee echoing her joy. "It's about time," Lenalee remarked.

"Well, normally, something like this would take a week," Lavi commented, "but Aki spent the entire day yesterday getting this organized." To his best friend, he said, "You know, Yuu-chan, you're lucky you have a sister like Aki. I'd give anything to live under the same roof as Lenalee."

Kanda and Allen were still frozen in shock from Cross's words. Disbelief was reflected in both blank stares. Tentatively, Allen stepped forward, his arms slipping from Kanda's waist. He spoke slowly, as if saying it would make it become false.

"Master… you're saying… I can… stay…? I can stay… in California?" he said, belief and hope welling up in his voice.

Cross gave a disgusted glare at the pianist-in-training. "What does it sound like? If you're under that idiot Tiedoll's care, you have to stay here in California. You'll be living with the Kanda twins."

The only one of the twins to look ecstatic was Aki. Kanda was doing a good job of retaining his joy, but a contented smile spread across his face, despite himself. He ruffled the bean sprout's white hair affectionately.

"Looks like you get to stay, bean sprout."

* * *

Whoo. That took quite a while to write... Twenty-two pages on Word xD I hope you liked this one, considering that you made it through the entire story. This plot bunny in particular (-points to tame little rabbit eating carrots on the side-) was vicious up until 12:10 this afternoon, when I finally completed this story xD It had been chewing at me for quite a while, especially after imagining Kanda playing the violin while Alen played piano.... -nosebleed-

Hehe. I really had fun writing this. Sorry if you thought Kanda was OOC; tell me. I want your opinion on this; it's a personal favorite story/plot of mine. I heart it. I heart it a lot. -heart-

If you liked it, review. If you hated it, review. If you thought something was off, review. Goshdang it, you guys, review!

Sora Pwns x3


	2. Final Draft! Look over here!

This is the edit of the story. Yes, that other thing? It was unedited; raw in all its glory. This thing right here? This is the product of Chainsaw Mafia's (check my profile for links) constant nagging and criticism. She said one other thing about this that I didn't bother to edit. I'm not a perfectionist like her.

Sora Pwns x3 proudly presents her favorite fanfic so far:

Etwass Zartlich

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There were many things that Yuu Kanda, the Japanese-American first chair, hated. Allen Walker being one of them.

Of course, they'd been in the same orchestra in their local high school for only a few months, but surely, that wasn't a long enough time to judge one's character…? Well, for Kanda, at least, it was more than enough. The day that Walker had transferred into fifth period orchestra was about a week after rumors of the transfer student from Ohio had spread around the school.

He had wandered in, side-by-side with Lenalee. A large grin was plastered on an idiotic face that had a tattoo-like scar on the left eye. Silver hair was cropped short and messily, just at the edge of his face. Kanda had immediately decided that something about that kid just stood out.

Upon seeing the concert master, Allen smiled pleasantly. "You're Yuu Kanda, right? It's nice to meet you. I'm Allen Walker," he greeted, holding out his hand in a handshake that never came. After an awkward moment, he continued, a bit shaky now. Was that a blush creeping onto his cheeks? "Um… is it fine if I call you Yuu?"

"No," the senior had snapped on impulse, the already-horrible first impression of the sophomore taking a nosedive after only a thirty-second conversation. Kanda had a feeling that this kid was going to do something to him. However, he had no intention of sticking around him to find out.

It had been five months now, and the long-haired teen had just about enough of Allen Walker's sloppy violin playing. As concert master, Kanda felt somewhat responsible for Walker's failures. Moreover, that meant that it wasn't perfect. Things below the perfect standard always seemed to irk Kanda, and Walker's sloppy playing was definitely taking a rapid climb toward the top of this list, especially because of his training and pride as a violinist—not exactly a good thing, to be on the Irk-list.

Despite their last chair's crappy playing, others had taken a liking to the bean sprout, despite their concert master's opposition. Their bass section leader, the senior named Lavi, seemed to spend more of his time picking on the bean sprout rather than Kanda—this, the master violinist was glad for. Another sophomore, Lenalee Lee, the Chinese cello section leader, seemed to adore the white-haired teenager who was her age and spent most of her time with him. It appeared to be that they had some classes together.

Kanda personally didn't see what the big hype about Walker was. Sure, he was a transfer student from Ohio, but for one thing, he was short. He had white hair. He had that freaky tattoo-looking thing about his left eye. But what irked Kanda the most about Walker was how he didn't seem to understand that he needed to get better—or to put it in a more understandable, less delicate way, he sucked. The violinist always pointed his violin down, as if he were ashamed, pulled too little during his bowing, and whatever bowing he used, it always flew over the fingerboard, staining the delicate strings of his poor violin with rosin residue _(for those who don't understand violin-speak, Kanda's saying that his posture sucks like hell)._

Fingering his own precious violin, Mugen (named by his stupid teacher and guardian Tiedoll on insistence that naming violins makes one attached to them and therefore making one take better care of it), Kanda grumbled to himself about how he would never misuse Mugen by letting Walker of all people play it. Nevertheless, Tiedoll always said, intelligence was meant to be shared. Kanda rolled his eyes as he wiped Mugen's strings. When did he ever listen to that old man—in fact, his guardian—about anything besides music? He sure as heck wasn't going to start now, of all times.

That transfer sophomore Walker was getting on Kanda's nerves. Every day for the past five months, he would walk into the orchestra, fake smiles and all, bringing a feel-good, amateur attitude about him, as if he were here to relax and hang with friends instead of play in an orchestra.

It was for this reason that Kanda made it a point to irritate the sophomore, just to spite him. Kanda often stalked past his little group and hit his shoulder, or stomped on his foot, just to get an annoyed reaction from him, to which the concertmaster could hastily insult back. Of course, Kanda had come up with a nickname for him, as the stoic senior did to all people who irked him. Allen Walker was to bean sprout as Lavi was to stupid rabbit. It just made sense to him.

Their orchestra director, the harsh Leverrier, disliked Walker just as much as Kanda did, but that did not make the director his ally. Leverrier always gave a sly, serpentine smile and told the two violinists to get along, despite their differences. Kanda despised that dark director as much as, if not greater than, the bean sprout.

That hate of his multiplied when Leverrier gave specific orders to Kanda.

"Kanda," he said, addressing the teen by his last name as the senior insisted, two months after Walker had transferred into orchestra, "I want you to teach Walker over there how to play violin. He's going to ruin the good name of the Dark Order Academy, since I can't ban him from an elective unless he does something extremely inappropriate, which probably won't happen."

Originally, Kanda would not have complied due to the sheer venom in Leverrier's voice. He was aware of his own venom; however, Leverrier was a teacher and therefore needed to have more respect towards his students. However, directions were directions and therefore needed to be followed. As he "randomly" strolled around the classroom at certain times, he would purposely stop by Walker and adjust his left hand, only for those fingers to slide back to their original position.

"Damn it, stupid bean sprout, I'm trying to fix your retarded playing," Kanda would snarl at the offending person.

Walker would glare back at him. "What do you mean, 'retarded'?! The only retarded thing I see here is your face, stupid Kanda!"

Lavi and Lenalee often watched the pair from their respective sections, bemused smiles on their faces. On one such occasion where Allen had learned the Japanese word "baka" and attached it to Kanda's name (BaKanda), the concertmaster was enraged. Lavi laid his head against his bass, smiling carelessly.

"Don't they look like a married couple, Lenalee?" he asked, watching the two.

Lenalee smiled. "Now that I think about it… yeah," she murmured. "Look at them bickering. They're so cute together."

Allen's ears pricked, having heard the comment, and his face went red with embarrassment, as Lavi would add. "I wouldn't marry that stupid BaKanda; not in this life, not ever!" he objected.

Lavi also had some classes with Kanda, and would often pester him during class or on the way home about teaching Allen violin. The bassist had been lucky enough to overhear Leverrier's orders to Kanda, and knew that his fellow senior would eventually comply if bothered for long enough. If he was right, then Kanda was going to crack soon.

To push him over the edge, Lavi woke up early in the morning—at around 5:30 A.M.—to catch Kanda leaving his apartment for zero period, though he'd be an hour early. The violinist often practiced violin on the field for an hour or so before heading to class, and Lavi attached himself to the senior at this time. Kanda locked the door to his apartment and turned to see Lavi, bright-eyed in the single, left eye visible.

"… What do you want, stupid rabbit?" Kanda asked, exasperated. Being the first unlucky person he spoke to, Kanda let himself smother that question in icy venom that, if used correctly, could kill.

Lavi, however, was often spoken to with that tone and therefore immune. He grinned happily and placed a hand on his childhood friend's shoulder. "Ne, ne, Yuu-chan," he chirped, using a bit of Kanda's home language. "Kono Allen-kun… You should teach him some violin. He's not doing too well."

"Why should I care about how well a stupid bean sprout does in orchestra? Something like that's not my problem," Kanda said firmly, giving the rabbit a sidelong glare. "Besides, I've already told you no."

"Pleeeeaaaase, Yuu?"

Oh, god. Oh, no. Not the begging.

Oh, here it _comes_…

"Pleaaaase?! Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please, please, _please_, Yuu?!"

"No, damn it!" Kanda shouted, walking faster to try to escape the begging while keeping a firm grip on Mugen's case.

Lavi ran ahead and dropped to his knees, triumph in his heart. It was the last strand for Yuu; when he started running, that was it.

"Pleeeeeaaaase, Kanda-sama?!"

… Well, the extra lacing couldn't make anything worse, so Lavi tried it.

Luckily, Kanda gave in. "Fine," he muttered, exasperated with himself for having such little tolerance. "Get out of my way, stupid rabbit."

Lavi happily did so, a triumphant grin on his face. This would be lots of fun.

"Hey. Bean sprout."

It was fifth period, and despite the fact that Kanda had already agreed to tutor the stupid bean sprout in violin, the Bookman's assistant did not forget to remind him that he had to ask first.

Walker chattered on, as if he had heard nothing. Irritated, Kanda kicked him behind the knees gently. The sophomore lost his balance, and, realizing he had miscalculated his strength, Kanda grabbed the white-haired teen as he fell. It was his own fault it had happened, so it was his responsibility.

Walker looked up and saw the senior's glare. Immediately, he turned a shade of red—probably embarrassment, Kanda noted—and sputtered a quick apology. Kanda rolled his eyes.

"Che. Next time, listen when I'm talking to you, bean sprout, and that won't happen again," he retorted.

Walker puffed up his cheeks a bit, irritated at the discriminating nickname. "My name is Allen."

Kanda, who had almost turned away completely, only glared out at Walker through the corner of his eyes. "A bean sprout is a bean sprout."

And that was that. Kanda walked away, leaving Walker unable to say anything back to him now. Kanda felt rather proud of himself, having released a bit of his anger against the little transfer student.

He stopped, suddenly aware that his goal, his reason for approaching the bean sprout, was still unfinished.

Quickly but advertently, Kanda strode back over to the duo of idiots and Lenalee (composed of Walker, Lavi, and Lenalee; thus, duo of idiots and Lenalee, who was not to be messed with due to her nearly mental older brother) and stood directly behind Walker. "Hey. Bean sprout," he grunted.

"It's _Allen,_ I told yo—" The sophomore said, irritated as he pivoted on his heels. His sentence was stopped short when he noticed the two inches of distance between Kanda and him. Cautiously, he took a step back before continuing quietly, "It's Allen."

Kanda rolled his eyes again, exasperated by Allen's lack of attention. "Che. Stupid bean sprout. You heard me. Lessons every Thursday after school at my apartment. I can't stand your sloppy playing."

"Eh?" Allen's face fell from its casual fake smile into a sloppy, disappointed form of its original shape.

"You heard me. Lessons every Thursday after school at my apartment. I can't stand your sloppy playing." Kanda said, avoiding Walker's eyes. After a moment's hesitation, Kanda turned on his heels and walked away quickly. Why he couldn't wait to get away, he didn't know. And why his face felt warm was a mystery to the senior, too.

-

The truth was that Allen thought Kanda was quite attractive, despite his personality flaws. A few manners here, a dab of consideration there, and wham-o! A good, dateable person, by Allen's definitions.

Not that he was looking, anyway. No, no; he wasn't gay or anything. Of course not. He wasn't gay.

...Or so he claimed. Allen still found himself following Yuu Kanda with his eyes. He noticed every grade sheet his student ID was on (he wasn't a stalker; he just happened to come across it while coincidentally hacking into the school system… he wasn't a stalker… honestly…), every time they passed by in the hallways.

Nevertheless, what captivated Allen from the start was the sight of Kanda playing the violin.

He had found by asking around that Kanda had been playing the violin since he was eight. That means now, since he was eighteen, that he had played for ten years. Allen had heard him practicing one late afternoon a few days after he had transferred into the Dark Order Academy while Allen was working part-time to catch up to his guardian's debts.

The sound was solemn; solitary, maybe. It matched the long-haired silhouette perfectly as the low notes danced easily on the G string. Suddenly it swerved into a quick scale climb into some high position on the fingerboard like something lashing out, and then slinking back down like an eel into its cave. Allen had sat there, enchanted by the music, still held by its magic long after the music ended.

That was why Allen had joined the orchestra.

He had no musical talent (not that he had tried or anything), but he wanted to play the violin all the same. If he could play as well as Kanda had that day, then he could die happy. He admired the stoic senior, despite his personality faults, because of the way that he played the violin, although it did occur to him that usually, a person who plays beautiful music has a beautiful heart. He considered Kanda an exception.

So that day, when Kanda had so rudely kicked him behind the knees, when Allen found out it was the long-haired senior who had caught him, he couldn't resist the blush that crept onto his face. He stammered a quick apology before he was interrupted by quite the rude comment. Height discrimination.

However, when Kanda had come back again, Allen had found himself face-to-chest (A/N: correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how tall Allen is, right…?) with the long-haired teen, and unconsciously took a step back.

Allen only brought himself to look up at the older teen's eyes, only focusing on keeping them level. Kanda's full sentence brought him into attention. "You suck at violin, so you're going to take lessons from me."

He shook his head a little bit, disbelief at what Kanda said settling in. "Eh?" He wasn't sure of whether to be happy or distressed.

"Che. Stupid bean sprout. You heard me. Lessons every Thursday after school at my apartment. I can't stand your sloppy playing."

Allen's face fell. Now he was sure that he was dreaming. As Kanda stalked away, Allen could only stand, face agape in a mix of horror and joy that he couldn't control.

After school, Allen bolted straight home, running past everyone with his violin held up in front of him to scatter the crowd. He opened the door to the apartment he had lived in for five months, used to the absence of his guardian, Marian Cross, a general of the United States army. His cat, Timcampy, nuzzled his foot as the sophomore bolted into his room, the cat on his heels.

He was ecstatic now, the joy of being able to visit Kanda's house being the primary feeling about him now. Allen distinctly remembered Lavi talking about something like that last month, but the sophomore had thought he was kidding. Now he knew that this was what Lavi had planning. He'd have to thank the senior later; maybe hook him up with his best friend Lenalee. Allen smiled good-naturedly. He knew that the bassist had a crush on (or was it more than a crush?) on the Chinese cellist.

Allen finished his homework before 4 P.M., a first for him since he found school mildly challenging. He felt as if he were riding on a cloud; everything seemed to be going well for him.

The same could not be said for Yuu Kanda.

"Oh, Yuu, you're home!" his twin sister cried in rapid Japanese, launching herself onto her older brother's shoulders. "It's been sooooo long since I've seen you, Yuu! How've you been?"

Kanda replied in the same language. "Che. I'm fine, baka-imouto. Hurry up and bring your stuff inside the house," he added grumpily.

Aki Kanda was a concert pianist, a virtuoso of sorts. She spent a lot of time traveling to different countries, competing in various piano competitions. For the last competition, over in Britain, Aki had left two days before the bean sprout transferred into the Dark Order Academy and didn't have a chance to meet him.

The younger Kanda twin dragged her luggage down the hall into her room, untouched due to its sheer clutteriness. One could hardly see the floor. Yuu, being somewhat of a neat freak, shuddered and refused to enter his sister's room.

His peaceful home life had been disturbed once again by the arrival of his twin sister. He adored his sister (not that he would say it aloud), but the girl could be a bit annoying at times. Kanda had to admit: without his sister to make him see optimistically, he'd be colder than ice. Possibly emo.

Lavi dropped by with Lenalee in tow.

"Ah! Aki!" he cried, bursting through the door.

"It's so good to see you, Aki," Lenalee smiled, hugging the senior gently. "How was Britain? Fun?"

Aki laughed. "Yeah. I scored another trophy," she added, pointing to the piano-decorated award framed on the wall.

"As expected of the prodigious Autumn," Lavi said, translating Aki's name into its English form.

Kanda rolled his eyes. With Aki came Lavi, her best friend, and with Lavi came Lenalee, Lavi's crush. The three made quite a lot of noise, and if the bean sprout were added to all this, it would be a mess.

… Just when exactly did he think about the bean sprout?

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. His long, dark hair flicked back and forth with the motion. Yuu decided to retreat into his room. There would be time to talk with his sister later, when the noise was gone.

-

The next afternoon, Wednesday, Allen decided to stop by the deserted field where Kanda had practiced that one day, five months ago, as a bit of a reminiscence of the time where Allen thought he was nice. He chuckled at his own naïveté. As he approached the field, he stopped and closed his eyes with a gentle smile.

Kanda was there, playing his Mugen again.

The piece this time was, by no doubt, simpler than the last one, though still technically challenging. It was at a quick allegretto pace, and though the bowing was difficult and the notes were double stops, no less; Kanda still played the piece beautifully and perfectly. But on closer inspection, one could see that, although his eyes were closed peacefully while playing, he seemed to have no joy in playing the violin, for his eyebrows were creased thoughtfully and didn't seem to completely relax, as if he were trying to remember something on the tip of his tongue. Even still, one could clearly hear the respect and love that he had for playing his instrument. _(Cliff notes version: he's playing a piece at a quick walking tempo, where he's hitting two notes other than open strings on different strings at the same time. It's actually pretty difficult for a beginner to keep the notes in tune.)_

Kanda played several pieces, each one ranging from a challenging virtuoso piece to a beginner's lullaby, and all were musically beautiful. It wasn't too long until the music stopped, the sun was lower in the sky, and Allen found himself lying down on Mugen's case, practically asleep.

The senior nudged Allen with his foot, then poked him with his bow, despite the fact that he knew it could be dangerous to the thin rod of wood. "Hey. Bean sprout. Get off Mugen's case."

Allen's eyelids fluttered, and he rolled off, still sleepy. Kanda rolled his eyes and put away his case, deciding to leave the other teen there. As he stood up to leave, he had second thoughts about leaving the sophomore on the middle of the field like that.

After a few moments' hesitation, Kanda hoisted Walker onto his back and carried him home, unsure of why he did so.

-

The apartment that Yuu Kanda stayed in was small, but more than enough for the two people who lived in it. There were four rooms and one bathroom in the small apartment. However, only one of four rooms in the apartment was technically vacant, and one of the rooms that wasn't might as well have been vacant, too. All that was in there was a bed, a few belongings, and a strange pink lotus trapped in an hourglass. Its purpose was questionable, but no one dared to ask.

Allen woke up in this room, and glanced around hazily, wondering where he was and why he was in this strangely melancholy room. It definitely wasn't his; that was for sure. A Black Order Academy uniform was visible from the unclosed closet door. So the room belonged to someone in his school. Kanda strode in wearing a casual black t-shirt and jeans while the observations continued, and the shock turned to realization, then more shock.

_I'm… in Kanda's house._

Kanda scowled at the sophomore that had caused him so much trouble. "Hey, bean sprout. Next time you go out to the field, chose a better sleeping place, you homeless idiot." He turned away, and on closer inspection, Allen could see that his long hair was slightly disheveled, as if someone had been on his back to mess it up in the first place. The phone rang.

"AH! YUU! GET THE PHONE!" a voice, somewhat feminine screamed from outside. "I CAN'T; I'M COOKING DINNER. YOU GET IT."

With an indignant "che", Kanda bolted out of the room. Allen wondered whom the feminine voice belonged to. He pulled back the black sheets (somehow, he wasn't too surprised by the depressing color) and stepped out of bed. When he peered out of the room, he didn't see anyone until he came to the kitchen.

A figure that looked exactly like a feminine, short-haired Kanda was at the stove. Allen craned his head back and forth to try to get a better look, and the person turned around, seeming to sense his interest.

She was just a bit shorter than Kanda, if not as tall, and had his sapphire eyes and dark blue hair, but hers was cropped to be just below her shoulders. Her figure was thin but muscled, and her fingers were obviously a musician's. They were slim, long, and, although he was far, he could see the muscle built up in them. Allen thought that he'd know this girl if he'd seen her before, but he didn't.

She smiled, and Allen noted that this might be the only basis to which he could imagine Yuu Kanda smiling. Gently. As in, something other than a smirk. "Hello. You're awake," she said cheerfully. She turned off the fire and left the pot on the stove. "My name's Aki Kanda, Yuu's twin sister. Nice to meet you."

Had Allen not already been attracted to her brother (he shoved the thought to the farthest corner of his thoughts), he would have thought Aki quite cute. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Allen Walker."

"Allen Walker? _That_ Allen Walker?" she asked, tilting her head in disbelief. "Yuu talks about you all the—"

"Che. I do not!" Kanda interjected indignantly. He was angry, sure, but Allen noticed that his lips were twitching, as if they wished to smile. "Don't listen to a word that stupid autumn girl says," Kanda snapped at Allen. "She hasn't been here in California since summer. She wouldn't know anything of what I talk about at home."

Aki hooked her arms around her older brother intimately, looking more and more of a couple than siblings do, and Allen could feel the heat rising to his face. It felt like he was intruding on something, despite the fact that the two were blood related. It was so weird; they were mirror images of each other coming together in an intimate, awkward manner that threw one off completely.

"Aww, but why not, Yuu-chan? I'm quite honest." Her face loomed closer to her brother's, taunting him, but the embarrassing scene was interrupted by Allen's stomach. She looked at the startled guest and smiled. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Allen threw up his hands in front of him, attempting to reject before his hunger got the best of him. "No, it's fine, really. I eat a lot; it would be—"

"Oh, come on!" Aki grinned, slapping Allen on the back. "It's fine. No one eats more than Yuu when it's soba night."

Kanda gave an indignant growl, and Allen realized that this girl was the reason why the violinist had turned out to be so moody. Though younger than her brother, this teen was enough to drive one crazy—Allen had only known her for a few minutes, but he had already felt awkward with Aki there.

After a moment of silence, Aki took this to be a "yes," and before Allen knew it, he was seated in one of the chairs, heaping plates of food in front of him. Of course, this being Allen, the food disappeared at a rapid pace, but it didn't seem to disturb the Kanda twins. They ate, one stone-faced and the other with a bright smile. Any thoughts of them being mirror images disappeared quickly.

Finally, they stood up and put the dishes away. Kanda, at Aki's request, was to show Allen around the house. The first room was Kanda's room, of course, and the older twin made it clear that, in the event that he came to their house again, Allen would not be allowed inside his room unless given specific permission.

The next room was Aki's room. They only peeked inside, for Kanda curtly informed his underclassman about Aki's possessiveness. But what they did see was a bunch of clutter and complicated music sheets.

The last "occupied" room wasn't occupied by a person. Instead, a large grand piano was in the middle of it all. Sunlight filtered in from the window at the far end, reflecting from the piano's black sheen. As if in a trance, Allen walked slowly to it, brushing his fingers lightly over the black keys. The feeling of the piano keys under his fingers was nostalgic, somehow, but he had never played a piano before.

"Aki plays it," Kanda said finally, watching the sophomore from the door. Allen turned back to see Kanda walking towards him. "I used to play a little, but I sucked at the piano. The violin is my instrument."

With one knee on the bench, Kanda played a short melody that didn't have too much joy in it, like his expression, as a demonstration. This kind of playing, Allen thought, is nothing like the way Kanda plays the violin.

Aki burst into the room when he finished. "Why hello there," she greeted curtly, rushing to the piano to brush its keys lightly. As she patted the piano, she crooned, "I'm here now, baby, don't cry because stupid Yuu had the nerve to play you…"

Kanda gave an indignant "che" at his sister's comment, but made no further protest against it. Instead, he looked at her expectantly.

"Aki, can you play something for me?" Allen asked, seeming to read Kanda's thoughts. "I want to hear you play."

She smiled mysteriously and nodded. "Of course. This is Yuu's favorite piece for the piano—Fantasie-Impromptu, by Frederic Chopin." At the mention of the title, Kanda seemed to perk up a bit.

Aki seated herself on the bench, adjusted it to be a bit further from the piano than where it currently was, and lifted her hands to play. She hit the first note, a chord, and a second cord before going onto a complicated left hand rhythm that, combined with the right hand, created a six-over-four melody where the right hand dominated the melody. It flew across the keyboard, taking only a few short breaks here and there, primarily playing complicated melodies. When the piece broadened into a cadence, she took her hands off the keys, and left Allen feeling as stunned as after he listened to Kanda on the violin. He looked up and saw his upperclassman with a relaxed smile on his face, something not often seen.

His eyes fluttered open as Allen watched with amazement. He turned to glare at the sophomore. "Don't you think you should be going home now, bean sprout?" he asked, the pissed-off look on his face returning.

Allen glanced at the clock, which read 8:30, and shook his head. "It's fine. My guardian doesn't even come home on most days. I hear he's lost somewhere in Vietnam on army business, but that was a month ago," he said nonchalantly. "By the way, where exactly are we? I might live nearby."

Aki led him to the front. Allen peered out the apartment door, and his eyes widened. "I live in this apartment complex…! My house's down that way," he remarked, pointing down to the left, the direction opposite the road to school. "Why don't I ever see you guys going to school, Kanda?"

Kanda glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "I leave early."

"Oh, yeah," Aki groaned. "He just had to sign us both up for zero period. Stupid Yuu-chan; always the early riser."

Allen laughed. "I have zero period, too, but do you guys really walk to school that early? I haven't seen you. Ever."

"I guess," Aki sighed wistfully. "I wish I could get more sleep. Every morning here in America, I wake up at 5 o'clock to _that_," she groaned, pointing at Kanda's irritated expression. "Imagine how I feel. Bad days, every day. It makes me miss being on the road and at different competitions."

As Allen left about a half-hour later, he found that he missed the company that Kanda and Aki (mostly Aki, for the older twin didn't speak much to him) provided as he came home to silence and loneliness. He opened the door to his apartment, announcing his return to no one but his cat, Timcampy. The golden tawny with a cross-shaped fur section rubbed his head against Allen's leg as he strode into the empty house, heading straight for his bed. He wanted the next day to come so he could try to wake up early enough to catch the Kanda twins leaving for school.

-

"For the last time, that bean sprout is of no interest to me!" Kanda shouted in rapid Japanese, the language they used when alone to speak to his twin sister. "Baka-imouto (stupid little sister)." Not for the first time, Kanda felt as if his younger twin sister was five years older than he was, what with her pestering about getting a girlfriend or a boyfriend (it's not as if it was illegal to be gay, after all, especially since the proposition against gay marriage had been brought to Supreme Court and was declared void).

Aki rolled her eyes, continuing in Japanese. "But Yuu, you took him home! The only person you've ever taken home was Lavi with Lenalee on his heels, and that's just because Lavi's a freakin' stalker! And you let him into your _room!_ Sure, that may have been because hell would have frozen over if you had dropped him into my room, but if you did take someone home, you'd dump them on the couch!"

Kanda glared pointedly at his sister, quickly thinking of a way to retort but not in a way that would seem as if he cared. "Look. Sure, I took that stupid bean home, but what the hell? It's like taking home a stray cat. Wouldn't you take it home?"

Immediately after he had spoken that reply, he regretted it. He could just imagine the mischievous smirk that had surely spread across Aki's face, and he could hear her inner voice chuckling.

Speaking in English now, Aki said, "Oh… So Allen is… a stray cat? How adorable. You love cats. If he's a stray, you can take him home aaaany time you want," she said teasingly, nudging her older brother's arm with her elbow. "It's no problem with me. Really. Any day is fine. Juuuuust fine."

Kanda glanced at his sister. "Is that so? Then in that case, he'll be coming over every Thursday for violin lessons."

He walked away with a smirk tugging at his lips, but he quickly wiped it away. He could just see the shock/joy mix on his sister's face.

From the closed bathroom door, he could hear his sister's cheer of delight.

Honestly, Kanda didn't know what to do with that stupid bean sprout. Since the day he transferred into orchestra, he'd been on Kanda's mind. Walker captured his upperclassman's attention with his silver-blue eyes, his white hair… Everything he did was part of Kanda's scope, too, but he couldn't explain why. Finally, exhausted, Yuu told himself that it was Walker's crappy playing that made him invite the sophomore over in the first place and that made him tell his younger sister.

He fell asleep, Walker still nagging his mind.

-

The next day after school, Allen walked out of his sixth period class to find Kanda leaning against the wall next to the door. He hadn't been able to catch the senior that morning because Allen had woken up too late.

"Kanda…" Allen said, mildly shocked. He let a pleasant, fake smile let itself be known on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"You're coming to my house for violin lessons. Remember?"

Allen thought for a bit before he remembered. Grinning again, but this time with a tinge of longing to avoid, he said, "Do I have to go? I don't want to go to your house just to be verbally abused because I can't play the violin as well as you can, BaKanda. I'm not like you, you know."

A flame of heat shot up Allen's arm as Kanda rolled his eyes and grabbed the younger teen's wrist. The grip was firm, but gentle; the way an adult would grip his child's hand while crossing the street. It reminded Allen of the days when his foster father, Mana Walker, was still alive. The touch was endearing, but it made people stare as the two strode quickly through the halls. And—did he really see it, or was he imagining it?—Allen thought that he could see a tinge of red on the senior's cheeks.

"Hey, is that Yuu Kanda? Is he holding hands with that kid?" "Who's that kid holding hands with Kanda?" "Oh, my god; Yuu is so _hot!_"

Kanda suppressed the urge to kick someone in the face as he heard those comments… or stuff similar to it.

They met up with his sister at the front gate, where she was fiddling with her short hair, twirling it about one long, thin finger. Upon hearing them come, Aki stood up and smiled. "Well, are you ready to go?"

Allen nodded, shifting his weight nervously while keeping a firm grip on the violin they had stopped by the orchestra room to pick up. The senior spared a glance at his underclassman before walking off, not saying a word.

"I thought I said you were going to be taking lessons today," Yuu said, not even bothering to disguise the venom in his voice.

Allen's grip tightened on his violin case. He frowned, obviously contemplating on whether or not he should use the $100 violin to whack Kanda or not. Kanda answered the unanswered question by gracefully dragging his underclassman with the arm not holding his own violin through the school gates. After a moment's hesitation, Allen followed him anyway, seeing as they lived in the same apartment complex.

The three traveled in silence. Allen's hand traveled absently to the wrist where Kanda had held it. Kanda's mind kept wandering to various thoughts about the sophomore, and he noticed that the mindless slaving over the sophomore occurred more often now. It was strange, and a weird feeling welled up in him when he remembered something that made him particularly happy.

Aki finally opened the door to the apartment. Without much effort, Kanda set Mugen down and tossed Allen unceremoniously onto the couch, taking time only to drop his stuff next to Mugen. He pointed at the case Allen held with a discriminating finger.

"Open the case," he demanded.

Allen gave him a glare, as if he were going to object, and then finally opened the case. He pulled it out of the Velcro straps, the four strings twanging oddly with the movement. Kanda's scowl deepened at the pitch.

"God damn it, stupid bean sprout; what the fuck did you do to your violin?" he cursed softly, holding out his hand to take the violin. Kanda grabbed the bow from the case and, with a bit of difficulty due to lack of a chin rest, tuned it. All the strings were at least a half step off, if not an entire note.

When the violin was returned to Allen, the teen brushed his fingers across the fingerboard, reveling in the harmonious sound the perfect fifth intervals gave off. Up until then, the two had been oblivious to the three behind them, who had set up a recording system so they could watch up in Aki's room without being discovered.

Kanda took out his own Mugen and tuned it, only having to toy with the fine tuners on his E string and adjusting his A string a bit. He pulled out the second violin part, Allen's part, from his case and set it on a music stand he had retrieved from his room. "Play that," he commanded.

Shakily, Allen put up his violin and gripped his bow. Instantly, Kanda's bow pushed up Allen's arm, which had been pointing the violin down, and forced his back straight. He tipped the scroll of the violin up higher and adjusted Allen's former fist-like grip on the bow, and moved it up towards the end of the frog.

He stepped back to double-check his work before nodding and approving of Allen's posture. The sophomore took this as a cue to start playing.

This particular piece was a Brandenburg Concerto, and although it was quite simple, it had a few challenging parts that Allen played incorrectly—his rhythm would always be correct and the right fingers would be pressed, but his pitch would always be a painful screech away from the note in its true pitch. Kanda felt like ripping his ears out.

As he collapsed onto the sofa next to Allen, he muttered angrily, "This is going to be a long afternoon."

-

Allen collapsed onto his bed, exhausted by what was supposed to have been only an hour of practice. Instead, Kanda had found so many errors in just his posture alone that he made Allen sit with his back straight and violin up for a half hour before they did anything else. He also adjusted the grip Allen had on his violin, moved his fingers around and made new stickers marking where his fingers were to be placed. In total, the sophomore had spent four hours at the Kanda's, where only ten minutes was spent eating some mitarashi dango Aki had picked up for him.

It had been exhausting, sure, but Kanda was, surprisingly, a good teacher. He was strict on certain parts of the piece, but he allowed a lot of room for musicality and wasn't too keen on tempo. Yuu had trained Allen not to let his bow move haphazardly over the fingerboard, but instead, to flex his wrist as he traveled down the bow to keep it traveling in a straight, smooth line.

However, he had came back with the ends of his fingers stained black from the thin strings and his arms sore from holding up the violin. It wasn't heavy, but the transfer student wasn't used to having his arms up that high. His back was also aching from the strain of staying upright.

When he finally got the chance, Allen collapsed onto his bed. A small smile spread across his lips. He had spent the entire afternoon with Kanda. It had been like a dream; the senior hadn't thrown a single, venomous insult for the entire four hours. He could also play the violin a lot better now. But even still, that piano had drawn Allen to it, enchanting it. He wanted to play the piano, but he didn't know how.

He smiled as he thought of Kanda, and the cute, emotionless tune the senior had played for him the other day.

His eyes closed peacefully, his thoughts focused on the senior.

Yuu shut off the shower, his wet hair dripping down his back. He had a better impression of that bean sprout now. He thought that Walker didn't try at all, but it turned out that the stupid bean sprout just didn't have the right guidance. He could read the notes well; it was almost scary how well he could sightread a piece. It was too bad that his pitch was a mile off; he would have been a good violinist.

During his ten-minute break, Kanda saw the bean sprout wander towards the piano room with the mitarashi dango in hand, asking Aki to play Fantasie-Impromptu for him again. She played it for him twice before Yuu stepped into the room, telling him that his break was over. He wondered why the bean sprout wanted to listen to the piece so much, and why he hung around the piano.

He ate his dinner with Aki before heading off to his homework, then heading off to sleep.

-

The next day, Allen woke up a bit later than he had intended, hoping to catch the Kanda twins. Even though he thought he didn't make it, he continued to hurry and was rewarded when he saw Aki and Yuu talking in the chilly February morning. He jogged up to them, happy that he caught them. They exchanged quick greetings (Kanda giving him a glare instead of a greeting) before starting off for school.

Lenalee and Lavi, who were talking with each other, watched the trio enter the school gates together, noticing that Allen and Kanda weren't bickering as usual. They assumed that the two had better opinions of each other now. Aki pulled Allen aside and invited him to come over for dinner, if he wasn't doing anything.

"Sure," he accepted, thinking it was better than spending his own money to buy more food than naturally possible to eat.

School blew by, and the two met up by the front gate to wait for Yuu. He came at last, not questioning the bean sprout's presence, and turned to leave, being the first one of the three to walk off.

"Wait right there, Yuu-chan!" a familiar voice called, grating the older twin's ears. Both turned around at the same time to see Lavi and Lenalee coming up behind them. "Where are you two going with Allen-kun?"

"Nowhere," Kanda and Aki said curtly. The older twin added, quite roughly, "Don't call me by my first name."

Sensing a secret underneath the curt tone, Lavi's I-found-something-interesting smile spread across his face. "Well, then… is it okay if Lenalee and I come over today, Aki? Since, of course, you aren't doing anything…"

The younger twin could feel the need to know what was up emanating from her fellow senior, and she knew from prior experience that Lavi wouldn't let go of this piece of valuable information until he knew what it was about. With a quick glance to her brother to let him know, she grudgingly nodded. Lenalee noticed this brief exchange and smiled apologetically to her friend for Lavi's behavior.

The group of five walked together to the apartment complex that three-fifths of the group lived in. Lavi lived down the street in the family-owned bookstore run by a mysterious man who called himself "Bookman", while Lenalee lived down in the other direction in another apartment with her brother Komui, a surgeon whose medical practice was quite… to describe it in a moderately-accurate way, questionable.

Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee were engaged in conversation about typical stuff—schoolwork, friends, and so on, with Aki making comments every now and then. Occasionally, Lavi would try to include stoic Yuu in the conversation, but his sister smiled quietly and shook her head before he could try. She knew that he was stressed out just by taking Allen over to his house again on a day other than the one the two had agreed on for lessons, and if teased, could cause an early apocalypse.

Jogging up to catch up to his long strides, Allen glanced up at the violinist, contemplating on whether or not his actions would be reasonable. Deep, sapphire eyes connected briefly with silvery-blue ones, giving both persons time to gaze into the other's eyes. Finally deciding against it, he stopped to fall back, but was dragged along by a firm grip and a rise of heat in his arm. Kanda had grabbed his wrist again.

Touched by the gentle grip again, Allen continued at Kanda's pace for a bit before he realized where he was and who he was with. He turned back, startling the older teen, to see Lavi with an absorbed gaze on his face. Lenalee had an interested gaze on her face, and Aki seemed delighted with the current situation.

"Wow, Yuu," Lavi commented breathlessly. "I didn't know you had a thing for Allen."

Kanda snorted. "Che. Who has a thing for that stupid bean sprout?" he asked, turning around to face forward, not realizing his strong grip was on Allen's wrist, not his Mugen's case which was in his other hand. He walked forward.

"I do not have a thing for that stupid bean sprout. Why does every—" Yuu stopped, suddenly aware of something holding him back. When he turned back, he noticed that his hand had been securely attached, and with a strong grip, to the younger teen's hand. He whipped his head around, his sapphire eyes suddenly shrinking to a snake's pair of eyes. "You!" he snarled at Allen, who had just been in a daze, embarrassed. The sophomore snapped up, instantly alert.

"M-me…?" he asked in a small voice.

"Yes, you, you stupid bean sprout. Why am I holding your hand?"

Allen pouted, his lower lip sticking out a bit. He spoke more confidently this time. "Why don't you try asking yourself, stupid BaKanda?"

"What was that, bean sprout? Are you saying this is my fault?" Kanda snarled, feeling the heat rise to his face.

The younger teen could feel the anger rising as he retorted, "Yeah, it is. Look whose hand was grabbing whose!"

Lenalee's giggle interrupted the two. Aki and Lavi, seeing the humor, too, joined her and they laughed for a bit before finally calming down, unaware of the glares boring into their skin. Aki smiled good-naturedly.

"You guys look like a married couple," she chuckled.

The two glared at Aki, then at each other before quickly turning away. Occasionally, their gaze would meet, but then they'd quickly glance away. Whether they were ashamed or angry, it was clear that the two were annoyed.

After arriving at the Kanda residence, Allen ignored the group and continued down the road, walking to his apartment. The elder twin grabbed the thick collar of Allen's uniform, stopping the younger teen in his tracks to glare resentfully at the senior.

They glared at each other for a few moments, electricity sparkling, before walking into the house after Lavi, Lenalee, and Aki.

After finishing his homework, Allen wandered back into the room with the grand piano. He rather liked the feel of this room; it emphasized the importance and the majesty of the instrument. Again, he felt joy and nostalgia at the feeling of having the sleek keys under his fingers. Closing his eyes, he remembered the finger patterns Kanda had used the other day to play that quick little melody. He slid onto the bench and began to play.

Although he stumbled a bit due to lack of memory, Allen's playing was more musical than Kanda's had been. He had never played this before—he had never played the piano before, to be exact—but he knew exactly how to make one part more beautiful by either making it quieter, stretching it out, shortening it, or making it louder. He had thought about it while Kanda had played it, and so he was prepared and knew when something would sound better. Each crescendo was carefully planned, and the quick, thirty-second exercise Kanda had played had become a minute-long piece.

He smiled to himself, happy with what he had accomplished. He lifted his fingers to the keys once more, remembering the Fantasie-Impromptu. Allen remembered the first two notes with ease, but when he hit the fast, six-over-four rhythms, he had to spend more time trying to remember the way the notes had resonated. He stumbled over the sixth notes in the left hand, trying to fit them with the right hand's sixteenth notes correctly. Time after time, Allen recalled Aki's performances.

Allen returned to working out the piece. Yuu, listening from his room, the one that shared a wall with the piano room, listened attentively, unable to work with the music playing. The bean sprout wasn't even past the eighth measure yet, and his rhythm was miles off. It was slightly better than what he had tried to pull of when he had tried playing the piece, but still horrible.

He walked in as Allen stumbled with the eighth measure. A hand reached over his shoulder to tap the correct note. When Allen looked back, he saw long, dark-blue hair draping down like curtains in front of his face, and followed the hair up to Kanda. He glared down at the younger teen, as if discriminating him for not knowing the piece.

"It's a D-sharp," he said plainly. "Che. Trust a bean sprout to be playing something way above him."

Aki came into the room unannounced. "Allen, have you played before?" She slid onto the seat next to him, her brother still hovering over the two.

"Ah… no, not until today. Yesterday was actually the first time I'd ever touched a piano," he admitted sheepishly.

Both twins gaped at him, including Lavi and Lenalee, who had appeared from behind the piano.

"Allen… by any chance… were you playing that exercise Yuu was playing yesterday by… by ear? Without any prior knowledge?" Lavi asked cautiously. When Allen nodded, Lavi gaped. "So… you were playing Fantasie-Impromptu, a piece notorious for its difficulty, by ear, too?! Without knowing how to play at all?!"

He nodded slowly, unsure of how this was important.

Aki broke out into a smile. "I'll teach you piano. It's also pretty obvious to everyone here that you can't play violin. After you get to read the notes fluently, you can ask the orchestra director to play piano accompaniment instead of playing violin and killing the audience's ears." She chuckled good-naturedly.

As the four discussed Allen's future as a concert pianist, Kanda retreated slowly, so that no one would notice. Or at least, he hoped so. Allen noticed when Kanda's presence left from hovering above him, and was aware of the senior's retreat into the shrouds of darkness concealing his heart.

The moment had been perfect, or so it had been for Kanda before the three other intruders had intervened. He had clearly felt the bean sprout's warmth, his head just at his chest where he could hold it tightly…

He shook his head slightly, disturbing waves of deep blue hair. It came again—the waves of thoughts about Walker. It had been happening a lot that day, and especially yesterday. The day before, even. It had actually started quite a while ago—the day he had transferred into orchestra. Walker had caught Yuu's eye, no problem. A lot of people did. But so far, only one person had stayed in Yuu's thoughts as long as Walker had, and that person was Walker himself.

Occasionally, during the most random times, he would relate something to the bean sprout. He had no idea why, but something would remind him of the white-haired teen, and he would quickly shake the thought. But on other occasions, the thoughts wouldn't leave his head, and he would sink into daydreams about the bean sprout and him. That was part of the reason why Kanda picked on Allen; it was payback for invading his thoughts, his personal space too often.

Kanda shut himself up in his room, hoping to be left alone.

Allen excused himself to go to the bathroom about five minutes after Kanda left. He knocked on the senior's room, having the distinct impression that he'd be in there. After a few moments, there was no reply, so he tried the doorknob. A whisper of cloth against cloth made him look up to see Kanda sitting up and alert. His surprise melted into the familiar mask of detest.

Feeling as if he had interrupted something important to the Japanese-American, Allen turned to leave when Kanda's voice was heard.

"Hey. Bean sprout."

Allen contemplated for a moment on whether or not to turn around. If he did, he'd be replying to the nickname and giving BaKanda more to mock him about. If he didn't, then it would seem as if he were angry. And he wasn't, really.

"… Walker," he said, forcing himself even to say the last name. Allen turned around, his eyes locked on Kanda's sapphire blue orbs. The illuminated lotus in the hourglass was the only light, the curtains drawn across the window. "You should learn to play piano. It would be… a great addition to the orchestra," he said finally.

A slow smile spread across Allen's face as he realized what Kanda was doing. He was being complimented by the first chair, and with a chuckle of delight, sat down next to Yuu. The smile was brilliant and happy, radiating with the pride of being complimented for once by stoic Yuu.

"Thank you, Yuu."

"… Che."

For once, the violinist didn't protest the use of his first name, but instead welcomed it. His arm wrapped gently around the younger teen's waist. Allen began to fidget, feeling awkward but ecstatic about being in the respected musician's arms. Realizing that he wouldn't let go, Allen finally calmed down.

After a while, though, when the arms didn't retreat, Allen became concerned. He turned in Kanda's grip to find that the senior was asleep. The sophomore smiled awkwardly. He hadn't counted on Kanda not sleeping last night, but it became apparent to him when he saw Kanda that the bags under his eyes were from lack of sleep.

Kanda turned, his grip still firm enough that Allen turned with him, letting out a quick gasp. The two were now entwined in an implying manner where Allen was under the senior. "K-Kanda…!" he hissed, the weight of his upperclassman combined with the pure thought of having him on Allen making his whisper more of a rasp. His heart pounded in his chest with the feeling of the senior's breath on his neck.

Murmuring in his ear, Kanda groaned, "Ugh… stu…pid… bean… spro…ut… shut up…" The sophomore couldn't tell if he was dreaming or if he was sleep talking. His grip tightened and they rolled over again, side-by-side now. Kanda could feel himself turning red, but if he signaled something to say that he was awake now, he had a feeling that he wouldn't get out of this alive.

Allen turned in Kanda's arms to find that there were only two inches between the two. He slowly brought his hands up to cup the elder's face, still angry-looking, reveling in the warmth of his cheeks.

Was it just him, or was Kanda running a fever?

Curious, his hands traveled up to his forehead, where it was also warm. Allen hurriedly wormed himself out of Kanda's arms and, when he stood up to look out the door, a trickle of long, dark hair shot out the entrance. His brows knitted together, Allen stalked carefully to the door. He tried not to alarm the people who had been eavesdropping, so he paced his steps carefully. Unsurprisingly, Lavi, Lenalee, and Aki were hiding behind the entrance, the long hair belonging to Lenalee.

"… What are you guys doing here?" Allen asked, wondering just how long they had been there. He shook his head. "… Actually, don't answer. I have a feeling I'd be upset if I knew. Anyway… Aki, I think Ka—Yuu is running a fever," he said, calling his upperclassman by his first name for the sake of his sister understanding who he meant. Allen glanced back into the room as he heard a muffle of a gasp. He eyed the supposedly sleeping form cautiously before turning back to Aki.

She had a bemused smile on her face, with Lenalee wearing one to match. Lavi, however, looked as if he was going to burst into laughter. "We'll see right to it, Allen; don't worry. Go ahead and go home."

The sophomore glanced anxiously at the piano room. "Can I…?" he asked carefully, wondering if the pianist would let him.

Aki smiled. "Of course. Lavi, teach Allen how to read bass clef so he can start looking at some of the music in the back corner drawer of my room. The mahogany one covered in all the clutter?"

"That's all of them," Lavi chuckled, Allen following the bassist into the clutter-covered room as Aki and Lenalee rushed into Kanda's room.

Aki glomped her brother, a delightful whisper slipping out of her ears. "Oh, Yuu-chan, I'm so happy! I'll be an aunt soon!"

"Shut up!" her brother snapped, trying to push her away with one hand. He sat up and tried to hide his blushing face with his free hand, burying it in embarrassment. "Che. It's not like that stupid bean sprout would even try anything like that, anyway. Who the fuck would want to rape that kid?"

"Don't use such vile language," Aki scolded good-naturedly. "And besides, you know you would."

"And who said Allen would be the one on bottom? Maybe you'll be the one giving birth," Lenalee chimed, adding onto Aki's humor. "Wouldn't your parents be extremely proud?" she grinned.

Kanda resisted the urge to toss his sister and her accomplice out the window. "Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

The two bounded cheerfully out of the room so that "mean ol' Yuu" could actually get some rest.

He lied down on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a bit. What had compelled him to do something like that to the boy he had only begun talking to two days ago, he didn't know. It was a mystery to him, but back then, he had the overwhelming desire to kiss the tender skin under the snow-white hair…

Kanda slapped his arm across his forehead. Having the quiet time to think by himself wasn't helping in the slightest.

He could hear Allen stumbling with the left hand now, playing simple melodies with it. Occasionally, the bean sprout would pause to let Lavi explain something he couldn't hear. Then the stumbling would begin anew, but somewhat clearer and better. It was as if every time, he was learning a half-year's worth of teaching. Kanda knew that learning as fast as this was remarkable.

That bean sprout… Kanda wasn't too sure about how he did it, but the bean sprout was drawing him in. Each playful smile that Allen gave him, even the insults, brought the senior closer into his heart. It wasn't wrong to say that Kanda was in love with Allen... not any more, at least. The sophomore's lovable pull was too much for even stoic Yuu.

Soon, the sun was just below the horizon, signaling 6:30. Allen and Lavi left the piano room, leaving it in silence. Lenalee left with Lavi, the two walking in the same direction to their respective houses. Aki finished cooking dinner, so the three remaining residents of the house ate in silence.

Amazingly, Allen's appetite was not what it normally was. He ate about half of what he usually did, sneaking red-faced glances at Kanda the entire time. The senior pretended not to notice, or to think about the reason why he was being glanced at. Bemused, Aki watched to two, her chin propped up on her hand. She found it quite amusing how they glanced at each other when the other wasn't looking, as if they were taking turns.

When the food had finally disappeared from the table and the dishes were washed, Allen excused himself from the table and went home, sneaking a final glance at the senior before slipping out the door. Aki leaned on the counter, watching with a content smile as her brother washed the dishes. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and returned his gaze to the dishes.

"… What do you want?" he asked finally, in their native Japanese.

She sighed, happy. "Nothing," she said wistfully. "It must be nice, being in love… Ah, the joys of youth."

"… I'm older than you are. What does that make you, then? Nonexistent?" A hint of hope was in the teen's voice.

"In your dreams," Aki said, throwing back her head in a laugh. She sat on the counter. "So… Allen would make a great brother-in-law, wouldn't he?"

Yuu sighed. "Che. Whatever."

"Hmm. In that case, I'll marry him. He's so cu—"

"_What?!_" her brother snapped, nearly dropping a bowl.

A bemused smile played on his sister's face. "I'm kidding. But you know," she said quietly, her face taking on a serene gaze, "from where I stand… it really looks like you love him. You look so happy when he's around. It's practically written across your face; I can see how much you love him."

"Che. He's only a stupid bean sprout; what's there to love?" Yuu snorted, turning away from his sister. He had to admit though—she was on the mark when she said that he loved that bean sprout.

"I'd like to hear that from you," his sister whispered mysteriously, sliding off the counter and retreating into the piano room. Edvard Grieg's Notturno began to play, the serene melody filling the house with a warm glow.

As he finished cleaning the sink, Yuu gave a glance towards the room where his sister was. Annoying as she was, that senior was extremely perceptive.

-

Allen groaned, turning over in his bed. The light from his window shone in his face, illuminating a near-empty room. Timcampy nudged him, swatting his face with a tawny brown paw. Annoyed by his master's lack of response, the cat bared its sharp teeth and bit his cheek.

"Ow! Timcampy, that hurt," he scolded, jolting up and rubbing his cheek. He glanced out the window. "It's Saturday, huh…"

The first thought that occurred to Allen was to go to the Kanda house. He loved the feel of the house, and it wasn't just because of the older twin. It always had a warm feeling, as if it would welcome everyone there. He dressed himself in a white collared shirt and breeches before heading out the door.

When Allen came to the door, there was silence. Finding it odd, he rapped on the door tentatively, half-expecting all hell to break loose. When there was no response, the sophomore craned his neck to see through the peephole.

"… Che. What are you doing in front of our house, stupid bean sprout?"

"Ah! Allen! Good morning!"

Allen resisted a smile and a blush as he turned around. Those voices could only be the Kanda twins. "Ah. Good morning, Aki… BaKanda. I didn't have anything to do at my house, so, uh… I was hoping to be able to play your piano."

Yuu walked past the bean sprout and unlocked the door, letting the other two chat as they walked in before closing the door behind him.

"… so Yuu made me go buy the groceries with him at _four in the morning_," Aki said, laughing. "I had no idea what he was thinking, but then I found out he was drunk!"

"Kanda? Drunk? I can't imagine that," Allen said honestly between gasps of air, doubled over with laughter.

An irritated hand was placed on the sophomore's shoulder. "If you're going to talk about things like that," he said to Aki and Allen, "do it when I'm not standing three feet away from you."

As he turned to stalk into his room, the sound of knuckles on wood resounded through the room. With a quick "I'll get it!", Aki skipped the short distance to the door. A chorus of two voices and a world of noise for Yuu burst through the door.

"Good morning Aki, Allen-kun!" Lavi and Lenalee chimed.

"Ah, good morning, Yuu," Lavi continued, clasping the older twin's shoulder. "It's good to see you."

Kanda glared. "It's too early in the morning to have to be put through this torture," he muttered angrily. His classmate grinned, ignoring the comment, and danced in the middle of the room.

As the trio entertained themselves with Kanda, Allen managed to slip away into the piano room, closing the door to prevent any unnecessary sound from escaping and warding them of his occupancy. Yuu, of course, noticed when he left, but made no move to follow lest the trio be tempted to tag along. When the three finally settled down with an agreement to play Soul Caliber 2 (which Kanda was tempted to play; it was one of his favorite games), the older Kanda slipped back into his room. He could faintly hear the metallic clang of metal-on-metal from his sister's room, and somehow found peace in the sound. It was familiar, as if from a past life or something…

Truth be told, Kanda felt the same way about Allen, Lenalee, and Lavi; not to mention a few other people including Leverrier and Lenalee's mental brother Komui. It was as if he knew them already, although he'd never seen them before. Lavi in particular. When Yuu had laid eyes on him when they entered third grade, he'd already known that Lavi would cause him a lot of grief.

Time flew by, and soon it was time for lunch. Yuu hadn't been doing anything in particular; he switched from listening to Allen struggle to meditating; even to playing Soul Caliber 2 with the trio in the other room from time to time. When he had finally settled down and was nearly asleep, he heard footsteps run across the hall into the piano room. Interested, Yuu sat up and listened.

"… you sure, Allen? We'll pay for you," Kanda heard his sister offer.

The bean sprout's voice could be heard now. "I'm fine, really. I'm not that hungry at all…" Suddenly he stopped, the other voices laughing in unison. Kanda assumed that the bean sprout had a traitor stomach. He chuckled softly, continuing. "Really, Aki, I'm fine. I want to stay here for a bit longer."

"Are you sure? If that's the case, we're going to have you watch our precious older brother, brother-in-law," Lenalee joked. There was another pause and more laughter, before all of them chorused a goodbye.

For a few moments, there was silence, but then Kanda could hear the soft, muted steps Allen took towards the rooms. He realized belatedly that the sophomore was headed in his direction and hastily threw the covers over his head. The seconds dragged by as Kanda forced himself to breathe evenly. He heard Walker's footsteps approach the bed and stop. He shut his eyes as he felt the blankets stir above him, and a rush of cool air came by as the stuffiness was removed. A cold hand was pressed against his traitor face, which blushed deeply against his will. The touch sent embers across his skin, heating it evenly. It became increasingly difficult to continue the façade of being asleep.

Allen's hand lingered on Kanda's forehead for a bit before moving onto his cheek. The sophomore leaned down over the senior, smiling pleasantly with the touch. His hand paused as it hung, suspended by only an inch above his upperclassman's hair. It had been a long time since the hair tie had slipped off, and his fingers itched to tangle themselves in his silky hair. Deciding against it, the apprentice pianist stroked it gently instead.

After a few thoughtful strokes in which Kanda could hardly repress his racing heart, Allen finally left. Not too long after, the Fantasie-Impromptu could be heard, riddled with mistakes as the apprentice pianist worked out the rhythms by remembering how Aki had done them the other day. Kanda sat up, listening to his ("My?" Kanda objected to himself, disgusted with the fact that he had resorted to such feminine-like language so soon after realizing the extent of his feelings toward the bean sprout) bean sprout play his favorite piece. After an hour of listening to stumbles, mistakes, overlooked key signatures, and incorrect rhythms, Allen could finally play the first four pages smoothly. But as he played, Kanda could hear no joy in the playing. The playing sounded monotonous; metronomic, even, unlike the melody he had played earlier.

Kanda decided that now was a good a time as ever to step in with some advice for the blossoming musician. When he walked into the room, the violinist could see Allen's frustration through his playing. The sophomore put his hands back onto the bench and tossed his head back, sighing. The senior jabbed his underclassman playfully in the back of his head, pretending to be annoyed, but joined him on the bench.

"Hey, bean sprout. You know your music doesn't sound any better than Aki's, right?" he said, a bit harshly.

Allen nodded, a grimace on his face. "It doesn't sound right. I can tell the notes are right, but… it feels like something's missing. It doesn't capture the heart of the people listening to it like Aki's did."

Both teens were ever conscious of the hand that was touching theirs, though they didn't do anything about it, happy to leave it there as it was. Kanda glanced at Allen from time to time, watching his expression. Finally, the senior decided he couldn't take the silence anymore and spoke.

"Look. The most important thing to remember while you're playing music is why you're playing the piece, and what you're trying to portray. 'I have to because someone says so' isn't good enough. If you can't think of a good, personal reason, or something that you want to show the audience, then you can't reach too far musically, but you will in your technique. Think of why you want to play this piece and how you can make it beautiful before you begin every time."

After a pause, Allen's fingers slid over Kanda's, not trying to grip them in any way. "Why do you play violin, Yuu…?" he asked cautiously, wondering if the senior would object to the touch or to the usage of his first name.

"… I play because it's my passion," he said finally, unshaken by either, and pleased by the first. His own fingers intertwined gently with the pianist's. "When I play violin, I play because I feel the joy of being able to create something, destroy something, or both just through pulling a bow across a string." His face began to heat up, self-conscious of what he was saying. It was out of character for the stoic senior, but this kid… this Allen Walker had been making things complicated for him. Waltzing into his life, intruding his thoughts… there was little that he had done that wasn't complicated.

Allen smiled softly at the keyboard, then at the intertwined fingers. He pulled them away, slowly, reluctantly. Nevertheless, the fingers were placed onto the keyboard, and, knowing the range of notes in the piece, Kanda slid off of the bench. He wondered how the bean sprout would interpret the piece.

The first two notes were solemn, followed by the sixths with a mellow tone. The sixteenth notes in the left hand portrayed confusion, and echoed harmoniously with the mellow timekeeper. The confusion slowly organized itself, turning, very slowly, into more of a joyous realization. It suddenly slipped back into confusion, but this time in more of a rapid, chaotic mess that expressed sorrow, which calmed into more of a sweet melody. It felt calming, and a smile slipped onto Kanda's face as a hand found itself resting on Allen's shoulder as he swayed, feeling the rhythmic flow of the music. It was soothing, to say the least, and it was happy and content.

The music jerked quietly back into confusion. It climaxed into a confusing interlude where Kanda felt that it was too much for one person to bear. His grip on Allen's shoulder tightened, but the sophomore made no objection to the touch—or at least, he didn't show any. The confusion that his playing showed made Kanda wonder what kind of emotions those were. The confusion made way for confusion mixed with happiness, and settled with two quiet, smooth broken chords.

Yuu was left breathless by the piece. This hadn't happened since Aki first learned to play it, and she had played it with the confusion of their parents' death behind it. However, this time, it was a feel-good breathless; as if he had seen something beautiful for only a few moments as opposed to the tear-jerking confusion Aki had played it with.

A small chuckle was heard, and a hiccup. A stutter of a reply could be heard, and the shoulders were trembling. It was then that Kanda realized that the younger teen was sobbing gently.

"Hey… hey…!" Kanda panicked, fearing that anything he would say would make the sobbing worse.

A small murmur caught his attention, and the senior leaned closer to the sophomore's mouth in an attempt to hear.

"It felt… so good…" Allen squeezed in between sobs, wiping the tears away from his face like a windshield wiper now. "It was like I was someone else, and I didn't have to worry about anything but what I was playing. It was like… being immersed in the good things, the per—the things I love."

Unsure of what to do, Kanda patted the pianist's back awkwardly before breaking out into a small smirk-grin combination. He didn't want to make him any more of a wreck, so he removed all traces of venom from his voice.

"That's what it should feel like."

-

When Lavi, Lenalee, and Aki came back not too long (about ten minutes) after he calmed down from his breakdown, Allen was depressed to find that Kanda had reverted to the stick-up-his-arse attitude. He had found comfort in the fact that Kanda could be so nice. It couldn't be helped, though; Allen knew that. Had these three found out, they'd be in some pretty deep stuff.

Of course, the three had brought oodles of food for the sophomore, the reason why they had spent so long (about half an hour or an hour) being because of the sheer load of all the food, and a small carton of soba for the stoic senior, who retreated into his room, content with his tempura soba. Kanda had only come back outside to talk to his sister for a bit, hastily retreating into his room afterwards.

After properly disposing of his waste, Allen lingered in front of the senior's room, his hand poised for the knock that would never come. He had decided not to knock, and as he turned to leave, the door opened. A hand grabbed his again, and the tingling sensation of the embers flying up his arm returned. It was Kanda, of course; who else made Allen feel that way?

"Hey. Bean sprout. I need to talk to you for a minute."

With a quick glance to see that no one was looking, he slipped into the room after his upperclassman. They faced each other for a little bit, Allen gazing upwards while Kanda glared down at his underclassman. He could see trouble reflected in the sapphire blue eyes, and naturally, it wondered him.

Before Allen could open his mouth to speak, Kanda cleared his throat. "When you played that impromptu… what were you thinking about?"

It had troubled the elder twin for a while. Just what exactly could make someone play a piece with such confusion, yet so heartwarmingly? The piece had held a sensation like a person with a sweet tooth being stuck in a Candyland maze, where there was no exit.

"What?" Allen asked, incredulous. That was bugging Kanda? The reason why he played it with that kind of interpretation?

"What… what kind of emotion are you feeling that makes you so… that makes your playing so moving?"

A bemused smile spread across Allen's face. "So that's what you were wondering." He couldn't resist a snort.

"…Che," Kanda snorted indignantly, turning away from the bean sprout to open the door. "Nevermind."

Allen grabbed his wrist, stopping Kanda in his tracks. "I… didn't mean it that way," he apologized. "It just came out that way. I'm sorry."

From the corner of his vision, Kanda could see the innocent smile on Walker's face. He gave another indignant "che" before sitting down on his bed, peeking out at the curtains. The sun had almost disappeared beneath the horizon now. Night was coming, and somehow Kanda found comfort in that fact.

The sophomore gazed at him with a feeling of longing, of even a bit of pity. He sat down next to Kanda, a few inches away from each other, and his fingers found Kanda's warm hand, his firm hand. The senior's gaze flickered to the intertwined hands, though he made no move to dispel them. Instead, he held the hand warmly, firmly, in his own. A soft blush raged across both faces.

Allen moved his hands—including the intertwined one—onto his lap, enveloping Kanda's hand with both of his own. He spoke softly and slowly, ponderingly; as if trying not to ruin the moment by saying something inappropriate.

"Kanda, I…" He took a deep breath, clasping the hand tighter and feeling it squeeze his in return before continuing. He didn't dare take a look toward the stoic twin. "I… am in love with you. When I played that piece… that Fantasie-Impromptu… I was thinking of how to describe our relationship… I want it to be more than friends." Allen could feel his face light on fire.

The senior could feel his entire face aflame, too, but he had enough discipline to stay stoic and not freak out. He also wasn't the kind of person to offer a warm, kind, heartfelt answer—that just wasn't Yuu Kanda. A reply wasn't something he could give right now. He had the answer—it had been pestering him for quite a while now—but he couldn't say it in a way that wasn't mean in the slightest. So instead, Kanda decided to do what he always did—let his actions speak for him.

Heart throbbing in his ears, Kanda gripped Allen's hands tightly and pushed down to prevent the sophomore from escaping. He turned around and placed his free hand just beyond the sophomore's hip, on the bed, and leaned forward, pressing the sophomore down underneath him. There were only centimeters between their faces: Kanda's portraying a sheepish glare while Allen was frozen in shock and embarrassment. The senior's arm weaseled between his back and the bed to hold his underclassman tightly to him, while the other stayed intertwined with Allen's. Suddenly, their lips crashed, locking in a tight kiss.

Both were vaguely aware of the door cracking open and a chorus of gasps arising, but neither cared. Allen was letting loose feelings that he once thought would never be returned. Kanda was realizing the true extent of the feeling called love. They were too immersed in their own worlds to notice the events in the real one.

Allen didn't leave Kanda's room that night, leaving the trio of eavesdroppers curious as to what the couple was doing. Aki reassured them that she heard nothing inappropriate, but even still, she cracked open the door every once in a while to make sure things were still chaste. Lenalee and Lavi didn't leave the Kanda household that night, either. The cellist had fallen asleep first on the couch, not bothering to take a blanket. Lavi, seeing that Lenalee would catch a cold (and therefore release an angry older brother into the world), came to bring a blanket to her when he suddenly found himself lying on the couch with her. Realizing that she wouldn't let him leave, he fell asleep with his arm wrapped comfortably around her waist.

Aki, noticing that she was out of place in the household of couples, ambled to the piano and played soothing lullabies for the two couples. Each piece was warm and welcoming, gently ushering the couples to a peaceful sleep.

The last piece she played was Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu.

-

As he stepped into his apartment the next morning, Allen heard rustling in the kitchen and the distinct smell of cigarettes. He walked in to find General Cross, his legal guardian and a general in the United States army, finally at home. The general glared at his "disciple," obviously irritated by the fact that he had decided to come home in the morning instead of last night.

Allen stiffened, expecting a harsh blow (Cross was a practitioner of Spartan beliefs; he also demanded that the boy call him "master" or "master Cross") that never came. Instead came a pat on the shoulder and a puff from his cigarette. The smoke flew in Allen's face, making him cough. "Pack your bags, idiot disciple. I've been moved again. We're going all the way to Georgia. We need to be there by—"

"Moving?! To _Georgia_?!" Allen screeched, enraged. "Why?! What the hell did you do this time?!"

"I already told you, stupid disciple. I've been switched bases. This one just happened to be in Georgia."

"That's all the way across the country!"

Cross glared at him through fire-red locks. "Didn't I tell you not to get attached to anyone? You might be killing someone you love by moving away after getting too close. I told you that. Now hurry up and pack."

Allen glared at his guardian. "…No," he said finally. "I'm not moving."

"What choice do you have, stupid disciple? I'm your guardian; you're supposed to be under my care."

"I'm not going to leave California; I like it here…! I'm not leaving, no matter what you say, stupid master!"

The teen bolted into his room, slamming the door. In the doorway stood Aki and Yuu, there to deliver food to the sophomore. The elder was stone-faced while the younger Kanda's face was horrified.

"Allen… Allen's… leaving?" she whispered quietly. When the general messed with his cigarette and nodded, she glanced away.

Yuu didn't dare say a word. He was afraid that, if he said it aloud, it would become truth and the love that he had finally obtained would disappear.

"… Damn," he whispered quietly to himself. "That's why I didn't want to fall in love; especially not with that stupid bean sprout."

The senior walked slowly to the sophomore's room (or what was probably his room). He knocked tentatively on the door, half-expecting no one to answer. The news was shocking to everyone… it must be hard for Allen.

Allen, sitting in front of the door, didn't want to open it. He didn't want to leave the room; he didn't want to leave California. He didn't want to leave Kanda.

"Damn…" he whispered to himself, a tear leaking from shut eyes. "Just when I'd finally gotten on good terms with him… Stupid master…"

So everything was a waste. Joining orchestra, finding chances to talk to the senior… Everything was a waste. He had used all that effort, just to have the fruits of his labor yanked out from under his feet. Now he was falling.

"Why now?"

Kanda heard the small whisper, and decided that it wasn't his place to talk to him. He walked home without his sister, leaving her to argue with the general.

The week rolled by slowly. The news had spread across the school, and everyone who knew and loved Allen was in tears when they found out. Yuu had distanced himself from Allen, though he knew it was too late for that now. His love was leaving, and if he didn't do anything now, then Allen would leave without hearing a formal reply. After all, Kanda hardly considered a kiss a formal reply.

Allen didn't see much of Aki, either, though he stayed over at her house to play her piano. He learned several of her songs, with Kanda a hidden audience. The senior didn't see too much of his sister, either.

Friday came, Allen's last day in school. Aki, Lavi, and Lenalee had agreed to meet him at the Kandas' apartment to walk together on his last day. He sat, staring at his Dark Order Academy uniform for a few minutes. Kanda knocked on the door, but Allen didn't reply. Silence followed, and Allen thought Kanda left. It hit him full-force as he pondered: General Marian Cross and Allen Walker, whether the latter liked it or not, would be leaving the next day for their new home.

He finished changing, and the doorknob turned slowly as Kanda let himself in. The violinist seated himself on the bed, bemused by the few belongings the pianist-in-training had in his room. It reminded Kanda faintly of his own.

Allen had spent a few minutes assembling his belongings for his last day of school while Kanda sat in silence.

Slowly, Yuu's arms moved to wrap around the younger teen's waist. He turned to press himself on Allen, sandwiching him between the bed and his body. They engaged in an urgent, passionate kiss, knowing that they were entering their last day together. Allen's eyes opened suddenly, and he pulled away.

The sophomore looked hurt. It took a few moments for Kanda to figure out the reason why— he hadn't been talking to him at all, and the stupid bean sprout probably took it the wrong way. They'd have to rectify that.

"… Look. I didn't avoid you because I hate you or anything," Yuu began. "I… just don't want you to leave."

"And you tell me that by not talking to me?" the other shot back, venom in his voice. He avoided Kanda's gaze.

Kanda rested his head against his love's chest, feeling it rise and fall steadily. He closed his eyes and spoke.

"… If I distance myself from you now, will it make the hurt go away?" he asked, his voice painful.

They lay there in silence before Kanda peeled himself away from Allen and strode out, the sophomore, still deep in thought, on his heels.

They met Lenalee, Lavi, and Aki at the door with dejected faces. Cross was nowhere in sight. Allen smiled, fake and fragile, and the five set off, the mood completely different from a week ago. No jokes were exchanged, no insults thrown. Silence and gloom hung over like a cloud, especially between Allen and Kanda, who had hardly talked since the news was broken to them.

Aki, Lenalee, and Lavi exchanged glances, the last two with a hopeful glint. Aki smiled softly and shook her head. "It can wait," she murmured softly to them. In a louder voice, "I need to go do an errand. I'll be back for sixth period; don't worry," she called to her older twin, waving and walking off.

Kanda nodded, and Allen gave a small gasp as warm fingers caught his. He glanced down to see Kanda's hand clasping his firmly. A small smile spread on Allen's face, despite himself, and he relaxed a bit.

The school day flew by, Kanda and Allen catching each other's eye as often as possible. Kanda was horrified by the thought of Allen going away, of course. The violinist hid it well, but he was sad. Depressed, even. He didn't like the thought of finally finding something, only to have it yanked away as if it didn't belong to him in the first place.

School was over, and the two left campus holding hands, despite their peers' comments and their conversation from earlier that morning. Kanda had long since gotten over peer pressure, though the same could have been said for Allen, who had been the topic of each of his twenty new schools for at least a month each, excluding the aftermath when he left.

It was only when they were halfway home did they notice that Aki still hadn't come back. Lavi and Lenalee had gone their own way, leaving the two to their own business. Allen swung the intertwined hands tentatively, his grip tightening as they approached the apartment complex. They walked slowly now, enjoying each moment though it wasn't crunch time yet.

They finally came in front of Marian Cross's apartment. The general's few belongings were already packed, as was Allen's. The sophomore opened his mouth to ask who, but Aki stepped out, grinning sadly.

"I want you to keep my brother happy, even if it's only for a little while more," she explained softly. "I turned him into too much of a grouch."

Cross said nothing as he leaned against the wall, blowing through the cigarette in his mouth. Finally, he straightened and glanced at his constituent. "Go. Run. Have fun. Do whatever it is you kids do."

Allen smiled softly, and he broke into a run, dragging an unaware Kanda along with him. They turned and bolted into the Kanda household, stopping in the main room to catch their breath. The look on Allen's face told the older Kanda that he was contemplating on which he wanted to do first: play the piano, or spend time with Yuu.

Exasperated, Kanda rolled his eyes and pushed the teen into his room, promptly closing the door as he stepped in, too. They instantly were caught up in a kiss that seemed to last forever. Occasionally they would come for air, but the need for each other was strong, unrelenting. Somehow, they had weaseled off the other's shirts and now lay on the bed, both half naked and tired. Kanda, currently on top, rested his head in the crook of Allen's neck, breathing quickly. The sophomore stroked his long hair, which had been let loose of its bonds and now hung haphazardly about the two. To tell the truth, although his actions had made it clear of what the senior felt for Allen, he felt like he needed to say it.

The question remained. _How?_

Kanda brought his face up to be level with Allen's. After placing a thoughtful kiss on the younger teen's forehead, he sat up. "… Go home and get some sleep," Kanda said finally, a gruff tone making itself apparent in his voice, despite himself. "You're leaving early tomorrow, aren't you?"

Allen glanced up at the senior. He looked down, sensing the gruff tone as venom.

"If you want me to leave, BaKanda, you should've just said it outright," Allen said, a tint of anger nestled in his voice. He stalked out of the room, leaving Kanda frozen in shock.

"I didn't mean it like tha—" he began, but regardless, Allen fled out the door, breaking out into a run after hitting the hallway.

As he walked the short distance home, Allen shook his head. He should've known Kanda wanted him to leave. After all, the senior had never made his feelings for Allen clear, although he did say that he would miss the sophomore when he left. He probably only wanted some sort of a fuck buddy or something like that. That's it; that was the extent of Yuu Kanda's feelings. If he had any.

That was what he told himself, but a part of him wanted to believe that Kanda was trying to be sincere. Maybe those words were out of concern. It seemed like the senior cared about him. The kisses they had shared were also solid information.

He wanted to believe Kanda loved him.

-

The next morning, Allen woke up at 3 A.M. to get ready to board the plane. Though it didn't leave until 7 A.M., Allen and Cross agreed that it was best to get to the John Wayne Airport early. He glanced up at the dark, black sky dotted by only a few stars, visible through the light pollution. Then he glanced down the road to the Kanda household, hoping to find someone walking from that direction.

Lenalee and Lavi arrived first. They came, holding hands and a farewell gift of Allen's favorite food—mitarashi dango; thirty packs—and gave him a hug. They sat and talked a bit for a while. All throughout the time, though, the couple didn't seem in the least bit distressed or sad. Maybe it was an act, or maybe, like Kanda, they had been pretending to like him, too. The thought made Allen sad; he was rather fond of the two.

At last, around 3:30 A.M., two near-identical figures were outlined in the darkness. It was the Kanda twins. A remorseful smile let itself be known on Allen's lips, and delight spread across Lenalee and Lavi's faces. They hurried up to the two, grabbed Yuu's arm, and dragged him over to where Allen stood. The sophomore stood to excuse himself when a cold hand grabbed his.

"Che. Stupid bean sprout; you don't know how to wait?" Yuu muttered angrily. "I need to tell you something before you leave."

Allen hesitated, waiting until Cross slunk back into the apartment for warmth before turning around. When he did, Yuu's hand fell from his own, and his face looked warm, despite the cold morning air. The senior opened his mouth several times, closing it not too long after, as if not sure of what to say.

Finally, the elder Kanda twin took a deep breath and looked down at the bean sprout. Sapphire eyes locked into silver-blue ones, and he spoke. "Aishteiruyo, baka moyashi." The words were touching…

… Or at least, they would have been, had Allen learned any Japanese aside from "baka", which, unfortunately, became the only thing he understood.

The sophomore stared blankly at the flushed senior standing before him and tilted his head to the side. "Eh? What was that?" he asked awkwardly at the insult. He felt as if he had missed something very important that had been said alongside "idiot".

Yuu gave an indignant "che" and a glare before turning around. Allen could see that his ears were bright red in the dim light. "I said I love you, you stupid bean sprout. Next time, pay more attention."

Despite himself, Allen broke out into a relieved smile and wrapped his arms around Kanda's waist. "I do, too, BaKanda."

Cross came out from the apartment, handing Aki (the two had completely forgotten Aki and the others were still there) a stack of important-looking documents. He gave an indignant puff of smoke before speaking.

"There you go, Ms. Kanda, representative of Tiedoll," he said, a bit formally. "These are the legal documents officially putting the minor, Allen Walker, under the care of Mr. Tiedoll. Have fun with that stupid disciple."

Aki grinned widely, Lavi and Lenalee echoing her joy. "It's about time," Lenalee remarked. "I thought it was going to take a bit longer."

"Thank goodness Aki has some great contacts. She's been running around all week, going to Tiedoll's house and back to Cross, just to get those legal papers done. You know, Yuu-chan," Lavi said enviously, "you're lucky you have a sister like Aki. I'd give anything to have a sister who adopted Lenalee."

Kanda and Allen were frozen in shock from Cross's words. Disbelief was reflected in both blank stares. Tentatively, Allen stepped forward, his arms slipping from Kanda's waist. He spoke slowly, as if saying it would make it become false.

"Master… you're saying… I can… stay…? I can stay… in California?" he said, belief and hope welling up in his voice.

Cross gave a disgusted glare at the pianist-in-training, who turned to hug an embarrassed Yuu. "What does it sound like? If you're under that idiot Tiedoll's care, you have to stay here in California. You'll be living with the Kanda twins. Hey, Allen." The sophomore turned to see his master with a wide grin on his face. "Thank that girl. She thinks highly of you, to take you under her roof."

Aki waved it off. "Nah; it's not a big deal. I did it for my darling brother," she said, grinning and hugging her brother's arm.

"Thanks a lot, baka-imouto," Yuu murmured to her. "I really owe you one."

"Che," she said in a perfect imitation of her brother, pulling off his glare. "It took a while; let me tell you that. I skipped a lot of school for your sake, so you'd better make me an aunt. And soon, mind you."

Yuu ignored the comment.

He was doing a good job of retaining his joy, but a contented smile spread across his face, despite himself. Yuu ruffled the bean sprout's white hair affectionately, kissing the top of his head, feeling a blush spread like wildfire across his face as he breathed in the scent of his beloved.

"Looks like you get to stay, bean sprout."

* * *

Haha. So how was it for you? Oh, that line where Kanda was all, "If I distance myself from you now, will it make the hurt go away?" almost had me crying when I wrote it D:

I thought Kanda was pretty OOC. I'm... just not good at writing jerks. -sigh- Doesn't work too well for me. As I told someone in a review reply, I tried to make him softer and easier to write by giving him a little (twin) sister to care for. I mean, seriously. Don't you all just love Aki?

Aki: -smiles- Really? Thanks.

Mmhm. So proud of my OC. She ain't a Mary Sue, mind you; her fault is her weirdness. Yes.

So now that I'm done blabbing, review. :D Drop by and give me a comment. Any grammar mistakes (should you find any) would be greatly appreciated...

... Don't leave me hanging, now...


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